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A400M has been designed to provide high strategic mission efficiency whilst meeting the demands of tactical operations.
The A400M is an economical turboprop aircraft with a cruise speed almost as fast as turbofan powered transports. Its advanced aerodynamic design, coupled with four new generation, high performance turboprop engines and 8-bladed propellers provide cruising speeds up to Mach 0.72 at 37 000 ft.
For tactical missions, good field performance is a crucial factor for mission success.
The A400M provides excellent soft field capabilities and requires only a short runway length, both for take-off and landing. In a combat situation where it would land on a semi-prepared forward operating strip and unload all its cargo, the A400M would require less than 1000 m of usable runway.
The aircraft is capable of operating into unprepared landing strips under adverse meteorological conditions completely independent of ground support. With its 12-wheel main gear and high flotation characteristics, the A400M will be able to land on soft grass fields over low plasticity clay, a performance which far exceeds that of any similar aircraft.
Operations from remote sites, with limited or no ground facilities and limited space for manoeuvre are severe constraints for a tactical airlifter. The A400M is designed from the outset to work in these conditions.
As a tactical airlifter, the A400M is capable of air dropping paratroops and equipment via parachute or gravity extraction. A single load up to 16 tonnes, or multiple loads up to 25 tonnes of total weight; 116 paratroops plus a wedge load of 6 tonnes.
The A400M can drop simultaneously paratroops and cargo. It can performs as well Very Low Level Extraction (VLLE – 15 ft above ground) of a single load up to 6.35 tonnes, or 3 individual loads, each up to 6.35 tonnes.
Aerial delivery by gravity extraction of a single load up to 4 tonnes, or multiple loads up to 20 tonnes of total weight can be performed by a nose-up attitude or by being manually dispatched.
The A400M is also quickly convertible into a tactical tanker. The flight envelope of the A400M allows it to refuel a wide range of aircraft and helicopters, at the altitudes appropriate to their missions.
To enhance the fuel volume, up to two optional cargo hold fuel tanks (CHT) can also be installed, providing up to 5.7 tonnes at extra fuel each. These additional tanks connect directly to the aircraft's fuel system and thus become part of the A400M's computer-controlled centralised fuel management system.
Designed from the outset to be a dual-role air transport and air-to-air refuelling aircraft, the versatile A400M offers air commanders and planners new levels of flexibility in the delivery of air power. Its basic fuel capacity of 50.5 tonnes or up to 60 tonnes with two optional Cargo Hold Tanks fitted, coupled with its own low fuel-burn rate, makes it an efficient aerial tanker and a cost-effective way for air forces to acquire an aerial refuelling capability.
