TSAMTO, August 30. The Spanish Defense Ministry still has not decided what to do with the 13 VTA A-400M aircraft, which it should receive starting in 2025, but does not intend to adopt.
According to the information Infodefensa.com according to the addendum to the purchase contract signed in 2016, the aircraft ordered by the Spanish Defense Ministry from the 15th to the 27th should be delivered to Airbus in the period from 2025 to 2030. At the moment, the main option of the Ministry of Defense of Spain is still considering the sale of aircraft to interested buyers, but there are no people willing to purchase them yet.
As reported by TSAMTO, in May 2003, the Spanish authorities decided to purchase 27 A-400M military transport aircraft worth about 6 billion rubles. euro. However, due to the difficult economic situation in mid-2013, the Spanish Ministry of Defense revised its plans, deciding to abandon the adoption of 13 aircraft. These A-400M are planned to be purchased starting in 2025, and then offered for sale on the foreign market. According to the agreement between the Spanish Ministry of Defense and Airbus Defense and Space, the first batch of 14 aircraft should be delivered to the Spanish Air Force in the period from 2016 to 2023.
The final assembly of the first A-400M (MSN44) for the Spanish Air Force began at the plant in San Pablo (Seville) in October 2015. The aircraft was delivered to the Spanish Air Force in November 2016 and entered service on December 1, 2016.
Currently, the 31st Air Wing of the Spanish Air Force consists of 13 A-400M aircraft. In particular, the 12th plane arrived in Spain on May 10, and the 13th - on July 13, 2022. As planned, the 14th A-400M with the possibility of refueling in the air will be delivered to the air base in Zaragoza in May 2023.
The A-400M Atlas is equipped with four turboprop engines, eight-bladed propellers, develops speeds up to 0.76 M (900 km /h) and provides transportation of up to 35 tons of cargo both inside the theater and between them, landing troops and equipment, including from high altitudes, aerial refueling of aircraft and helicopters, including other A-400M, medical evacuation.
The A-400M of the Spanish Air Force was used during the evacuation of military personnel and civilians from Afghanistan in August-September 2021, the delivery of medicines during the pandemic, as well as sending weapons for transfer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Recently, Airbus tested a kit that modifies the A-400M into a firefighting aircraft.
