Airbus Defence & Space has signed a pair of contracts with procurement office OCCAR covering support and upgrade activities for the A400M airlifter.
OCCAR – which manages the programme on behalf of its seven launch nations – refers to the contracts as Global Support Services (GSS3) and Block Upgrade 0.
Joachim Sucker, OCCAR director, says: “To enable sustained operation of a high-end military system like the A400M, a robust support environment is paramount.
“The GSS3 contract signed by OCCAR with Airbus illustrates A400M user nations’ ambition to sustainably operate the A400M in the most demanding environments, benefiting from the range, the payload and the versatility of the A400M to fulfil an incredibly large scope of missions.”
GSS3 replaces an earlier agreement signed in 2019 and covers a range of services to be provided by Airbus, including ground tools, spares delivery and technical support.
Block Upgrade 0, meanwhile, will see improvements to the A400M’s systems, including flight-management. It also ensures the fleet is “fully compliant with the latest NATO requirements”.
Enhancements will include the addition of a satellite-based landing system, narrowband SATCOM and wifi, and improvements to the tactical information system.
Airbus describes the agreement as an “end-to-end contract” that includes development, certification, roll-out, training, and in-service support of the upgrades.
Phase one of the upgrade is already under way and will completed by the end of 2026, while the subsequent activities will continue until the end of the decade.
Airbus says the agreement is the first upgrade of the A400M’s operational capabilities beyond the scope of the original launch contract.
Launch customers for the Europrop International TP400-powered turboprop comprise Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey, and the UK.
Jean-Brice Dumont, head of airpower at Airbus D&S, says: “Global deployments like the Kabul airlift mission or the more recent Pacific Skies exercise highlight the need for interoperability and commonality among our customer nations. This new framework agreement is the answer to that increasing requirement.
“With 130 A400M in operation and more than 200,000 flight hours achieved by the fleet, the new agreement allows our customers to benefit from significant savings while keeping the same highest standard of services and performance.”
In the first nine months of the year Airbus shipped five A400Ms, the airframer disclosed in third-quarter results released on 30 October.
