2013 APRIL / Vol. 5 / No. 4 /
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helicopters have been upgraded
to block 1F baseline standards.
Denel Aviation is receiving
excellent feedback from the
SAAF and especially from
16 Squadron at Air Force Base
Bloemspruit where the first batch
of helicopters has now been flying
continuously since April 2011
Dewald Steyn, the project
manager: Rooivalk, at Denel
Aviation says the performance
of the aircraft is being closely
monitored and evaluated from a
design and development perspec-
tive. The helicopter has exceeded
the expectations and no major
maintenance or repair work
has thus far been required.
The Rooivalk project started
its design phase in 1984 and had
its first flight in April 1990. It
attracted world-wide attention for
its unique design and capabilities
and has been displayed at major
international air shows in England,
Dubai, Malaysia and Cape Town.
Denel Aviation was responsible
for the final modifications to the
helicopter to improve its safety
and reliability and accuracy of its
weapons systems and to complete
all outstanding certification flight
testing to enable the application for
a full military type certificate at the
Cabinet-agreed deployment baseline. ·
Airbus Military has today received
full Type Certification for the A400M
new generation airlifter, marking a
critical step towards delivery of the
first aircraft to the French Air Force.
Award of the Type Certificate
makes the A400M the world's
first large military transport to
be designed and certified to civil
standards from its inception.
Military Initial Operating
Clearance is ongoing, paving
the way towards first delivery.
The Type Certificate, was
presented to Airbus Military
by European Aviation Safety
Agency (EASA) Certification
Director Dr. Norbert Lohl.
Airbus Military CEO Domingo
Ureņa Raso said: "I would like to
thank everyone in Airbus, Airbus
Military and at EASA who has
worked so hard to achieve this
certification. It is an enormously
gratifying moment to have
confirmation that the A400M has
fully demonstrated its compliance
with the most stringent airworthiness
standards. This is an aircraft that
is going to transform the military
airlift world in the years ahead
and we look forward with great
excitement to the first delivery."
Cedric Gautier, Airbus Military
Head of A400M programme, said:
"Certifying the A400M to civil as
well as military standards has been a
huge challenge for us, our suppliers
Airbus Military A400M receives full
civil type certificate form EASA
and EASA itself. But by providing
a firm framework for certification
from day one, to globally accepted
standards, both we and the operators
will see important benefits as the
aircraft matures in service and new
customers join the programme."
During the certification
programme the A400M has
undergone exhaustive testing of
its handling qualities throughout
the flight envelope in normal and
failure conditions; demonstrated
outstanding performance in the heat
of the Gulf, cold of Sweden and
Canada, and at the high altitude of
La Paz, Bolivia; and satisfactorily
completed more than 300 hours
of function and reliability testing
to demonstrate the robustness of
its TP400 engines and systems.
Additionally it has begun
tests of more advanced military
functions such as air-to-air refuelling,
airdropping of supplies and
paratroopers, and low-level flight
all with highly encouraging results.
The five-strong fleet of "Grizzly"
development aircraft has now
completed some 4,800 hours in the
air during more than 1,600 flights and
will continue intensively to expand
the A400M's military capabilities.
About A400M
The A400M is an all-new military
airlifter designed to meet the needs of
the world's armed forces in the 21st
Century. Thanks to its most advanced
technologies, it is able to fly higher,
faster and further, while retaining
high manoeuvrability, low speed,
and short, soft and rough airfield
capabilities. It combines both tactical
and strategic/logistic missions. With
its cargo hold specifically designed
to carry the outsize equipment
needed today for both military
and humanitarian disaster relief
missions, it can bring this material
quickly and directly to where it
is most needed. Conceived to be
highly reliable, dependable, and with
great survivability, the multipurpose
A400M can do more with less,
implying smaller fleets and less
investment from the operator. The
A400M is the most cost efficient and
versatile airlifter ever conceived and
absolutely unique in its capabilities.
Airbus Military A400M undergoes cold
weather tests and the A400M in flight.
Thales UK and Airbus Military have
signed an 18-year contract with the
UK Ministry of Defence to supply
training services for the A400M
Atlas, the Royal Air Force's next-
generation military transport aircraft.
The multi-million pound training
services programme will be operated
by A400M Training Services Ltd, a
joint venture between Thales UK and
Airbus Military. The training services
will include the design, construction
and management of the A400M Atlas
training school, the installation and
maintenance of full flight simulators
and all synthetic training equipment,
and support to the RAF's own course
design team and training staff.
The training school will be built
at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire,
with work planned to complete in
spring 2014. The school will train
a range of aircrew and groundcrew
in how to operate and maintain the
RAF's 22 A400M Atlas aircraft.
The contract and associated
simulator orders are expected to
sustain up to 300 long-term jobs,
principally at RAF Brize Norton
and at Thales UK's facility in
Crawley, West Sussex, where
the simulators are being built,
and also in Airbus Military.
Marion Broughton, head of
Thales UK's military aerospace
business, said: "This contract
award demonstrates yet again that
Thales is a key MOD partner in the
provision of training services. It
also continues our long association
with RAF Brize Norton where
we already provide VC10, TriStar
and Voyager training services.
We look forward to providing
further services to the RAF's next
generation of air support aircraft." ·
UK MOD awards A400M
Atlas training service
contract to Thales
and Airbus Military