Vietnam Interested in A400M Atlas Heavy Transport Aircraft

14 Februari 2020

High-ranking Vietnamese military delegation attends the Singapore Airshow 2020 Exhibition (all photos : BaoDatViet)

Currently, the Vietnam People's Air Force is in demand for a transport aircraft larger than C295M to assume the main role.

After the last An-26 "work horse" receives "retirement books", the current Vietnamese transport air force will only have aircraft of European origin, including CASA. C295M and NC-212i.

However, these are all light transports, according to the assessment, which play well the "backbone" role, while our need is a larger generation of aircraft to hold the main position when needed. Strategic aviation demand.

Candidates for this position have been listed including US-made C-130J Super Hercules or Russian Il-76, but investing in the purchase of two transport aircraft will not take advantage,  infrastructure is available, so the brightest prospect is still a European aircraft.

Currently, Singapore International Airshow (Singapore Airshow 2020) is taking place, this is an opportunity for large manufacturers in the world to find customers, as well as parties wishing to find a suitable supplier.

As noted, at the exhibition, the military delegation of the Ministry of Defense of Vietnam has shown interest in the A400M Atlas engine transport of Airbus Aviation Group, it is considered a "brother" to our C295M or NC-212i.

In Southeast Asia, the Malaysia Air Force is the force that is operating an A400M squadron and could soon be Singapore, this state-of-the-art aircraft has received very positive reviews.

Although the price is relatively expensive, the tactical features of the A400M are superior to all competitors, so when considering the cost as well as the lifecycle exploitation efficiency, it is still the most economical.

The Airbus A400M Atlas is a very modern long-range 4-propeller military transport aircraft developed by Airbus Military with the purpose of replacing Transall C-160 and Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules.

The A400M manufacturing project was started in 2007, the aircraft made its first test flight on December 11, 2009 and officially launched in 2013.  Currently Airbus A400M has received more than 200 orders from over 10 countries around the world, the unit price of the A400M was 152.4 million Euro as of 2013.

A400M has crew of 3-4 people; length 45,1 m; wingspan of 42.4 m; height 14.7 m; maximum take-off weight of 141,000 kg; maximum landing weight of 122,000 kg; maximum carrying capacity 37,000 kg or 116 soldiers.

The aircraft is equipped with 4 Europrop TP400-D6 turbofan engines with a capacity of 8,250 kW for a speed of 780 km / h; range of 3,298 km when carrying the maximum load; flight ceiling 11,300 m.

The unique feature of the A400M is that despite the huge weight, the take-off and landing distance on the tactical runway is only 980 and 770 m. More specifically, according to the manufacturer, the A400M can even land directly on the desert sand or even the usual beach.

(BaoDatViet)