Airbus Defence and Space has successfully demonstrated the capability of the A400M airlifter to operate from unprepared runways.
Airbus Defence and Space has successfully demonstrated the capability of the A400M airlifter to operate from unprepared runways.
The new generation airlifter demonstrated its ability to take off from a sand runway, the last of three unprepared runways which it will be certified.
The tests using the development aircraft MSN2 took place over a three week period in August on a specially constructed airstrip at Woodbridge, UK.
A final week of tests will include operations at increasingly higher weights.
The A400M demonstrated excellent performance in taxying manoeuvres, such as U-turns, and during take-off and landing on the 1,600m (5,250ft) strip.
These tests followed earlier successful results on the gravel surface at Ablitas in Spain and a grass runway at Écury in France.
