Turkey to receive first A400M plane next year

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Pilots pose in front of a prototype of an A400M Airbus military plane at Torrejon Air Base near Madrid, Spain.

Turkey is to receive its first A400M aircraft, designed and built by an international consortium with the country’s participation, next year, Hürriyet newspaper reported yesterday.

The A400M, a military transport aircraft designed by Airbus, will bring strategic power to the Turkish military with its long range and high capacity. The giant aircraft features four engines, developed by Rolls Royce and MTU, and has a capacity of 37 tons.

A400M’s have a cruising altitude of 13,300 meters and a ferry range of 8,700 kilometers. The most important feature of the aircraft is its ability to take off on a 750-meter air strip with a load of 25 tons.
Turkey will be the second user of this aircraft after France. Manufacturing of the first A400M for Turkey is slated to start in the coming days. The projected date of delivery is early 2013. A total of 10 aircrafts will be delivered to the Turkish Air Force by 2018.

Airbus has made an offer to Turkey to open a regional maintenance center for A400M’s in the country. The company targets a market of 1,000 A400M’s in the next 20 years.

Beluga offer

In a separate move Airbus offered Turkey the opportunity to participate in building the Beluga EX, another giant transportation aircraft.

Turkish Aerospace Industries may join the project by designing the aircraft, which requires high engineering capabilities. The total investment cost of the project is $5 billion. Turkish Airlines may assume modification works regarding the Beluga EX