Turkey receives second A400M aircraft from Airbus

ANKARA

Turkey has received its second A400M tactical transport aircraft from the Airbus consortium, the country’s top defense industry procurement body has announced.

“Delivery of our MSN0013 aircraft, with the tail number 14-0013, the second of 10 aircraft to be procured within the content of the A400M Strategic Transport Aircraft Program organized by our undersecretariat, has been completed as of Dec. 22, 2014,” the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) said in a written statement released late on Dec. 23.

Following the handover which was formalized at Airbus’s final assembly line in Seville, the aircraft landed in the 12th Air Transportation Main Base Command in Erkilet in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri earlier on Dec. 23, the defense body said.

Turkey finally accepted its first A400M aircraft in April, ending a months-long controversy over whether the aircraft met technical specifications.

Airbus, a European multinational aerospace and defense corporation, has been contracted to supply 10 four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft to Turkey.

Apart from Turkey, the aircraft has also been ordered by the air forces of Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Spain and the UK.

Turkey is a 5.5 percent shareholder in the A400M program, with Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TUSAŞ) supplying fuselage and wing parts for the plane to Bremen, Germany and Filton, England for integration before final assembly in Seville, Spain.