The aircraft was accepted at the A400M Final Assembly Line in Seville, Spain on 09 March by Chief of Malaysian Defence Force General Tan Sri Dr. Zulkifeli, witnessed by Datuk Nozirah, Deputy Secretary General of Ministry of Finance, and Dato Dr. Rothiah, Deputy Secretary General of Ministry of Defence, who signed the Transfer of Title on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. Chief of RMAF, General Dato' Sri Roslan Bin Saad, said: “The A400M will give the RMAF the most advanced heavy transport capability in the region and enable us to undertake an extraordinary range of military and humanitarian operations.”
Bernhard Gerwert, CEO Airbus Defence and Space, said: “We are extremely proud to deliver the first A400M to our first export customer - Malaysia. These aircraft will transform Malaysia’s air mobility force thanks to the A400M´s unique combination of strategic and tactical capabilities. Today sends a clear message that the A400M is not just a specialised aircraft designed and developed for Europe’s air forces, but is truly the new reference in tactical and strategic transport market globally – fulfilling both roles in a single machine.”
After arrival in Malaysia, the A400M will star in the LIMA airshow at Langkawi, 17-21 March.
The A400M is the most versatile airlifter currently available responding to the most varied needs of world Air Forces and other organisations in the 21st century. It can perform three very different types of duties: it is able to perform both tactical missions directly to the point of need and long range strategic/logistic ones. And it can also serve as an air-to-air refueling “tanker”.
Powered by four unique counter-rotating Europrop International (EPI) TP400 turboprop powerplants, the A400M offers a wide flight envelope in terms of both speed and altitude. It is the ideal airlifter to fulfill the most varied requirements of any nation around the globe in terms of military, humanitarian and any other “civic” mission for the benefit of society.
The A400M was launched in 2003 to respond to the combined needs of seven European Nations regrouped within OCCAR (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, Turkey and the UK), with Malaysia joining in 2005. Its maiden flight took place on 11th December 2009.
