19 November 2014. The Royal Air Force (RAF) has received the first Airbus A400M Atlas Military Aircraft.
The handover took place on Brize Norton Air Base, from the Airbus' base in Seville, Spain to Royal Air Force. Whilst the official handover ceremony will be held on this last November 2014.
Airbus A400M Atlas of Royal Air Force
Airbus A400M Atlas has service registration ZM400 and special livery of Royal Air Force.
This is the first A400M of total 22 aircraft in coming years. The second one has performed its flight debut last month. The spokesperson of RAF said that they expected to receive another A400M very soon and the third aircraft before 2014 ends.
Airbus A400M Atlas is a military tactical transports which has massive maximum payload capacity up to 32 tonnes. The turboprop engines promising good performance in short range flight mission in any warfare. The aircraft come after the decision of RAF to retire Lockheed Martin C-130K Hercules fleet.
UK, France and Turkey are among the first country received this advanced military tactical transport aircraft. Germany also prepares to receive its A400M in next few weeks. Malaysia, Luxembourg, Spain, and Belgium are also A400M Atlas customers.