Aircraft
A400M Gets Military Ticket, but French Still Not Satisfied
A Scimitar armored reconnaissance vehicle and a weapons-mounted support vehicle with trailer emerge from the A400M that flew to Boscombe Down in the UK this month. The aircraft was subsequently displayed at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford, where it performed a signature flypast with the Royal Air Force Red Arrows demonstration team. (Photos: Airbus Military and Chris Pocock)
A Scimitar armored reconnaissance vehicle and a weapons-mounted support vehicle with trailer emerge from the A400M that flew to Boscombe Down in the UK this month. The aircraft was subsequently displayed at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford, where it performed a signature flypast with the Royal Air Force Red Arrows demonstration team. (Photos: Airbus Military and Chris Pocock)

On behalf of the seven European nations buying the Airbus Military A400M, the French government defense procurement agency (French acronym DGA) announced that the new airlifter had achieved military certification. The DGA is the technical lead for the government partners on the program and has supervised the work of 15 multinational groups of officials who examined the aircraft’s capabilities in such areas as avionics, electronic warfare and human factors. The A400M achieved European civil type certification last March. It is the world’s first large military transport to be designed and certified to civil standards from its inception, according to Airbus Military.

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