Turkey has finally taken delivery of its first Airbus Defence & Space A400M airlifter after a prolonged period of negotiation.
The aircraft was formally accepted by Turkish officials at the Airbus facility in Seville, Spain on April 4, making Turkey the second operator of the A400M after France which took its first two deliveries last year.
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Big Brother to the Herky bird! — Engines are a tad bigger than working on T56 Alisons though im sure one could easily get lost in the engine bay….
Raymond
says:
You never know, in years to come they may replace the C-130J’s in RAAF service.
Allan
says:
The A400 replacing the C-130 isn`t beyond happening. With the Army up armouring most of their vehicles they may become too big to be accommodated in a Hercules so the extra room available in the grizzly may be the only choice, Unless Lockmart decide to upgrade the C-130 to cater for the increased weight and dimensions of army vehicles, the A400 may just be wearing kangaroo roundels in the future.
The Road Runner
says:
Think Australia would be mad to purchase the grizzly.
Better to consolidate on the C-17 and C-27J.
The LHD should move all armour the ADF has.
If we need to move armour by air we should use the C-17.
I would love to see the ADF have more C-17 and C-27J and get rid of the C-130.
Dane
says:
You still need a medium tactical/strategic lift aircraft to carry cargo too big for C-27 and where a C-17 either can’t be justified or is too big to land at a field. The three aircraft will augment each other well.
The Road Runner
says:
Hi Dane
You will find the C-130 “bulks out” before it weighs out. Most Airports in the world could act as a staging ground for smaller planes such as the C-27J to fly out to Forward operating bases.An example would be Kandahar airport in Afghanistan.Planes fly into Kandahar (such as A330 MRTT or C-17)unload the goods for smaller planes such as the C-27J to take to FOB’s.
Sure the C-130j is a great plane and Australia has a well rounded fleet.The reason i am so keen on more C-27J is that they can be configured to a gunship role with a roll on roll off pallet system. A great capability to have for Special forces.As with all budgets ,if we provide for one thing ,we take away from another.The C-27J could become a niche capability for Australia.If we need C-130 we could ask allies such as NZ or the US to provide us with that service. I think Australia could do with a few more A330 MRTT and C-17, but in order to do so we would have to give up something.
Dane
says:
Hi Road Runner
I don’t disagree that more C-27s would be bad thing. Instead of operating a small fleet of them, a medium sized fleet of 20-25 spread over two squadrons would be ideal. Maybe once the C-130J fleet has reached the end of it life, there won’t be need to replace it in service. As much as I like the idea of the Spartan being a dedicated aerial fire support platform, I don’t Australia will ever have a need for one. Most, if not all, of our combat operations will conducted along side the US. You could argue that there me be a time when the US won’t support us in combat, but not in the foreseeable future. It would make a great ISR platform or even an air-to-air refuelling aircraft should we ever decide to equip our rotary wing fleet with a receiving capability. The C-27 is great that is has so many potential options should the ADF decide they ever need them.
iscover
Peter Singh
says:I would love to take a flight in the A400m
Paul Douglas
says:Big Brother to the Herky bird! — Engines are a tad bigger than working on T56 Alisons though im sure one could easily get lost in the engine bay….
Raymond
says:You never know, in years to come they may replace the C-130J’s in RAAF service.
Allan
says:The A400 replacing the C-130 isn`t beyond happening. With the Army up armouring most of their vehicles they may become too big to be accommodated in a Hercules so the extra room available in the grizzly may be the only choice, Unless Lockmart decide to upgrade the C-130 to cater for the increased weight and dimensions of army vehicles, the A400 may just be wearing kangaroo roundels in the future.
The Road Runner
says:Think Australia would be mad to purchase the grizzly.
Better to consolidate on the C-17 and C-27J.
The LHD should move all armour the ADF has.
If we need to move armour by air we should use the C-17.
I would love to see the ADF have more C-17 and C-27J and get rid of the C-130.
Dane
says:You still need a medium tactical/strategic lift aircraft to carry cargo too big for C-27 and where a C-17 either can’t be justified or is too big to land at a field. The three aircraft will augment each other well.
The Road Runner
says:Hi Dane
You will find the C-130 “bulks out” before it weighs out. Most Airports in the world could act as a staging ground for smaller planes such as the C-27J to fly out to Forward operating bases.An example would be Kandahar airport in Afghanistan.Planes fly into Kandahar (such as A330 MRTT or C-17)unload the goods for smaller planes such as the C-27J to take to FOB’s.
Sure the C-130j is a great plane and Australia has a well rounded fleet.The reason i am so keen on more C-27J is that they can be configured to a gunship role with a roll on roll off pallet system. A great capability to have for Special forces.As with all budgets ,if we provide for one thing ,we take away from another.The C-27J could become a niche capability for Australia.If we need C-130 we could ask allies such as NZ or the US to provide us with that service. I think Australia could do with a few more A330 MRTT and C-17, but in order to do so we would have to give up something.
Dane
says:Hi Road Runner
I don’t disagree that more C-27s would be bad thing. Instead of operating a small fleet of them, a medium sized fleet of 20-25 spread over two squadrons would be ideal. Maybe once the C-130J fleet has reached the end of it life, there won’t be need to replace it in service. As much as I like the idea of the Spartan being a dedicated aerial fire support platform, I don’t Australia will ever have a need for one. Most, if not all, of our combat operations will conducted along side the US. You could argue that there me be a time when the US won’t support us in combat, but not in the foreseeable future. It would make a great ISR platform or even an air-to-air refuelling aircraft should we ever decide to equip our rotary wing fleet with a receiving capability. The C-27 is great that is has so many potential options should the ADF decide they ever need them.