UK MoD Signs £410 Million A400M Airlifter Upgrade Contract

The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has negotiated a £410 million contract that will provide in-service support for the UK’s Atlas A400M aircraft.

The A400M is the latest addition to the RAF’s tactical airlifter capability and can carry up to 37 tonnes of payload over a range of 2,000 nautical miles. It is able to deploy troops and equipment between and within theatres of operation either by parachute or by landing on short, potentially unprepared airstrips, the MoD said in a statement Thursday.

Atlas can also carry armoured vehicles, allowing a deploying force to arrive ready to fight. For humanitarian roles, it is capable of deploying mobile cranes, excavators and large dump trucks for disaster relief operations– for example clearing earthquake sites.

Air Marshal Julian Young, Chief of Materiel (Air) at the MOD’s Defence Equipment & Support organisation said, “The A400M Atlas will form the backbone of the Royal Air Force’s Strategic and Tactical Air Transport capability over the next decade and beyond.”

This key contract will deliver maintenance for our A400M Atlas fleet, enabling this class-leading aircraft to support UK military operations around the globe.

The RAF currently has 14 Atlas aircraft in service, with the planned fleet of 22 scheduled to enter service by 2019.

The contract with Airbus will pay for maintenance, upgrade and repair of the UK’s entire fleet of Atlas transport planes into the next decade.

The new deal draws on a separate two-year Global Support Contract worth £63 million that has also just been agreed with France and Spain, which will provide common support and spares services, and is the first step towards a 6-Nation Global Support arrangement.

The new contracts come after the delivery of important training systems to the RAF, including two cockpit simulators and a cargo hold trainer. The new training equipment at RAF Brize Norton has a combined value of £141 million and is supported through a pre-existing service support contract worth £226 million. The second of two flight simulators and a cargo hold trainer were delivered earlier in 2016 and the facilities will provide training activities for up to 60 flight crews, and 60 maintenance personnel a year.

Elsewhere on site, a new, innovative hangar facility worth around £62 million is on schedule to be fully fitted-out by early 2017. This huge building is capable of housing three Atlas aircraft during maintenance periods.