Thanks to its outstanding characteristics and performance, the all new A400M is the best military transport aircraft for carrying paratroopers. It can carry more troops than any other Western-built troop carrier.
The A400M can accommodate up to 116 troops sitting face to face, alongside the fuselage and back-to-back along the centre line of the aircraft. And thanks to its wider fuselage which provides more space between the rows, it can carry the same number of fully equipped paratroopers with their chutes and related equipment.

Because of its high speed capability, the A400M can carry the paratroopers faster to where they are needed, and once over the location they can be dropped in less time over a limited area, allowing them to swiftly regroup and to be quickly operational.

The A400M has been specifically designed to allow such very fast dropping. On the one hand, its low speed performance (as low as 110 kt) enables an easy exit from the aircraft. It also reduces the scattering of paratroops and thus permits easier regrouping on the ground. But above all, the A400M permits two paratroopers to jump simultaneously either through the cargo door or through the two lateral doors. This alone reduces the jumping time – and hence the scatter between the first and last to jump - by 50%.

Simultaneous jumping was made possible thanks to the unique aerodynamic characteristics of the A400M, which prevents paratroopers colliding with each other behind the aircraft when exiting the aircraft at the same time. When using the lateral doors, they are helped by sponsons, or aerodynamic fairings around the landing gear bay which are shaped in such a way as to form a step from which the paratrooper can jump, allowing a clean exit from the aircraft. But the shape of the sponson is also extended to reduce turbulence behind the aircraft with the aerodynamic flow keeping the jumpers separate.

The A400M is also fitted with a winch which allows hung-up paratroopers to be safely and comfortably retrieved and pulled back into the aircraft.

Loads can be extracted through the ramp by gravity or with parachutes. It is possible to drop a single load of up to four tonnes by gravity, or up to 16 tonnes with parachutes, or multiple loads with a combined weight of up to 25 tonnes. It is also able to deliver in the same pass loads and paratroopers through the ramp.

The A400M is also able to perform from the paratrooper doors, at altitudes up to 25,000 ft, manual delivery of light loads arranged in bundles using static line or free fall technique.

A “Computed Air Release Point” (CARP) system linked to the automated load release system helps the loadmaster and crew to manage the extraction of the material. It is also integrated into the Head Up Display (HUD), allowing the crew to monitor the drop sequence.

For very low level extraction, (as low as five meters / 15 ft), up to three individual loads, with a maximum payload weight of 19 tonnes (42,000 lb) can be extracted in a single flight pass, with parachutes which pull the material out of the aircraft.


The versatile A400M responds to all of today's airdrop requirements.