Ahead of Defexpo 2012, Airbus Military held a press conference briefing the media about the varied products it has on offer for the Indian defence forces—C295, A400M, A330MRTT

On March 21, a comprehensive press briefing was conducted by Airbus Military’s Vice President, Defence Capability and Market Development Ian Elliott as a curtain raiser from his company for the forthcoming Defexpo 2012 to be held in Delhi starting March 29.

Outlining the company’s profile, he traced its formation as a daughter company of the parent Airbus which itself is one of the four major arms of the largest in Europe defence conglomerate, the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Company (EADS)—the other three being the Eurocopter, Astrium and the Cassidian, dealing with helicopters, space and Eurofighter programmes, respectively.

Airbus Military, seemingly a small subsidiary of the giant parent Airbus actually, is the only military and civic/humanitarian transport aircraft manufacturer to develop, produce, sell and support a comprehensive family of airlifters ranging from three to 45 tonnes of payload. Airbus Military’s highly versatile product range includes the robust and service proven, three to nine tonnes payload “light and medium” Family, comprising the C212, the CN235 and the C295 “workhorses”, the all new 37-tonne A400M designed for the needs of the 21st century, as well as the A330 MRTT—the benchmark in multi-role tanker transport aircraft, and further military derivatives based on Airbus commercial aircraft. Airbus Military is the global leader in the market for military transport, tanker and surveillance aircraft able to perform the most varied missions. Altogether, Airbus Military has sold more than 1,000 aircraft to about 130 military, civilian and government customers. More than 800 of these aircraft have been delivered.

Headquartered in Madrid, the company’s facilities are essentially based in Spain. Its main sites are Getafe, close to Madrid, where civil Airbus A330 airframes are converted into multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) aircraft, and Seville, where the San Pablo factory, south of the airport, hosts the A400M final assembly line opened in 2007, as well as the complete production and final assembly of the C212, CN235 and C295.

Elliott gave detailed briefing on the roles and capabilities of three major airframes which, apart from their core capabilities were also extremely well endowed for the multi-tasking mission requirements of the 21st century. These are as follows:

C295: The Tactical “Workhorse”

The Airbus Military C295 is a new generation, very robust and reliable, highly versatile tactical airlifter able to carry up to nine tonnes of payload or up to 71 personnel, at a maximum cruise speed of 260 kt/480 kmph. Fitted with a retractable landing gear and a pressurised cabin, it can cruise at altitudes up to 25,000 ft, while retaining remarkable short take-off and landing (STOL) performance from unprepared short, soft and rough airstrips, as well as excellent low level flight characteristics. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprop engines, the C295 provides an excellent manoeuvrability, outstanding hot and high performance, low fuel consumption and consequently a very long endurance of up to 11 hours in the air.

According to Elliott, the exceptionally long endurance of the aircraft makes it the ideal platform for the maritime patrol duties and, with suitable modifications it could prove to the leading candidate to meet the requirements of India’s medium-range maritime reconnaissance (MRMR) programme.

The A400M: The versatile airlifter for the 21st century

Elliott emphasised that though yet to see operational service, the A400M epitomises the most versatile airlifter currently available, ably responding to the highly varied needs of world air forces and other organisations in the 21st century. It can perform three very different types of duties: short range, tactical missions directly to the site of action, and longer range strategic/logistic operations, as well as being able to serve as a “tanker”. Powered by four unique counter-rotating Europrop International (EPI) TP400 turboprop power plants, the A400M offers a wide flight envelope in terms of both speed and height. It is the ideal airlifter to fulfil the diverse requirements of nations around the globe in terms of military, humanitarian and any other “civic” missions for the benefit of society.

The A400M was launched in 2003 to respond to the combined needs of seven European nations grouped within OCCAR (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, Turkey and the UK), with Malaysia joining in 2005. This is one of the major reasons for its extreme versatility. The A400M can perform missions which previously required two or more different types of aircraft, and which even then provided an imperfect solution. With its 12-wheel main landing gear designed for operations from stone, gravel or sand strips, its efficient absorption of shock-loads into the airframe structure, and its minimised risk of foreign object damage, the A400M is able to land on and take-off from short, soft and rough unprepared airstrips meeting the CBR6 standard. These characteristics allow it to ensure, for example, that swift humanitarian aid can arrive on the spot in the very short time frame needed after a disaster.

On its possible sale in the Indian context, Elliott conceded that the IAF may not immediately feel the need for the aircraft having already gone in for the C-130J tactical and C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifters. But in his opinion, the ‘Grizzly’ sitting in the middle of the payload capabilities of the US aircraft could certainly complement the other two with its 37-tonne payload and excellent short/soft field capabilities. He was therefore hopeful that the IAF may certainly consider the A400M for acquisition say, after a decade or so, once the aircraft has proven its operational capabilities with other air forces round the globe.