Avalon 2017: A400M starting to deliver for RAF after 'challenging' entry-into-service

[Ethan]

The Airbus Defence and Space (DS) A400M Atlas transport aircraft is beginning to deliver for the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) after a "challenging" entry-into-service, the commander of the service's only operational unit told reporters on 1 March.

Speaking at the Avalon Airshow near Melbourne, Australia, where an RAF A400M was on static display as part of a global tour, the commander of 70 Squadron, Wing Commander Simon Boyle, said the service was beginning the process of rolling out the aircraft's full potential following a difficult 2016 for the multinational programme that affected the RAF also.

"Entry-into-service of any new aircraft type is a challenge, and for the A400M it was especially so in 2016. But we are moving beyond that now, and I definitely see a positive trajectory for the aircraft," Wg Cdr Boyle said, adding, "We have momentum building behind the programme, [and] we are just now starting to understand how good this aircraft can be."

With 14 of 22 aircraft now delivered to the RAF (of which about 10 are on the flightline at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, with the remainder undergoing retrofits with Airbus DS in Seville), and the remainder set to be handed over in around 2018/19, the RAF is now beginning to roll out the A400M's tactical capabilities.

As Wg Cdr Boyle noted; "We have been flying in a strategic role until now. We bought the A400M as a tactical airlifter, and we are increasingly needing to move into this tactical arena - it is something that we need to do as quickly as we can, given our requirements."

The wing commander explained that the RAF is now routinely flying the A400M at low-level through the valleys of Wales, and has undertaken light stores air drops and paratroop drops from the aircraft, as well as night-vision goggle and steep approach tests.

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