L’esercito francese e il Dipartimento della Difesa ordinano 4 ulteriori Airbus A400M Atlas.

France Military, Department Of Defense order 4 additional Airbus A400M Atlas Aircraft, should reach the target of 41 A400M on the French Air Force by 2029.After past additional orders placed in the LPM + the common order with Spain last June the Fleet of A400M will reach 61 Units for the French Air Force.

The 2nd biggest Fleet will belong to Germany with 50 Units.

3rd Spain with 27 Units.

4th United Kingdom 22 Units

5th Turkey 10 Units

6th Belgium 7 Units

7th Malaysia 4 Units

8th Indonesia & Kazakhstan ordered 2 Units each.

9th Luxembourg with 1.

While France had committed to ordering fifty A400M “Atlas” transport aircraft from Airbus, the 2024-30 Military Planning Act [LPM] reduced the number of aircraft of this type to be deployed by the French Air and Space Force [AAE] to “at least” thirty-five. This risked compromising the future of production of this aircraft, due to a lack of sufficient workload.

“A400M: base at thirty-five. This means that for our military needs, the French Air and Space Force estimates, as we speak, that with thirty-five aircraft, we are capable of fulfilling most missions,” Sébastien Lecornu, then Minister of the Armed Forces, stated before senators in May 2023.

However, this new “target” was not set in stone. “When I say ‘base,’ I mean that in the reviews I’ve proposed, we’ll obviously have to ask ourselves whether or not we should increase our capacity,” he said, before inviting Airbus to “look very closely at export prospects.”

Earlier, General Stéphane Mille, then Chief of Staff of the French Air and Space Force (CEMAAE), had explained that tactical transport aviation would be able to “carry five times more cargo with half as many aircraft as in 2012” with these thirty-five A400Ms.

“The A400M is sized for a contract. The format falls between peacetime requirements and the peak requirements of the National Emergency Force [ENU].” “Either we push further to achieve 100% autonomy, which is probably too much on a daily basis, or we scale too small, making it impossible to cope with ‘rushes’: that’s the whole point,” he stated.

That said, for some, this reduction in the A400M order was inconsistent with the increased need for overseas deployment and the evolution of the AAE’s operational contracts. “It is indeed likely that these will result in an increase in the size of the reinforced national emergency echelon [ENU-R] force, as well as its deployment distance. However, only the A400M can meet this need for strategic reach, thanks to its payload capabilities,” argued MP Frank Giletti [RN], rapporteur for program 178 “Preparation of Forces – Air.”

In any case, the facts proved him right. This is especially true given that new missions are being considered for the A400M Atlas.

Last year, the current Chief of Staff of the Air Force (CEMAAE), General Jérôme Bellanger, explained that “recent events in New Caledonia have led to a reflection on the permanent resources we would need to respond to this type of situation” because “we came close to disaster.” He also continued, “we would like to reach 37 or 38 aircraft by 2028. The objective is to equip ourselves with a capacity that can be projected almost permanently overseas.”

This wish has been partially granted, as the number of A400Ms planned for the AAE has since been discreetly increased to “at least 37 aircraft,” according to a draft law document relating to the 2024 management results (PLRG) published last April.

Then, to ensure the sustainability of Airbus’s assembly lines, France and Spain signed a letter of intent with Airbus and the Organization for Joint Armaments Cooperation (OCCAr) to anticipate the delivery of four and three A400M Atlas aircraft, respectively, by 2028-29.

In the pages of the 500th issue of Air Fan magazine, General Bellanger welcomed “the increase in the size of the Atlas fleet, initially planned for 35 aircraft by the Military Planning Act and since increased to 37, with deliveries extending through to 2028.” He added: “The A400M is remarkable in terms of versatility, which is not, however, synonymous with ubiquity: the issue of size therefore remains one of our major areas of focus.”