(06/12/23) Airbus has conducted a new flight-test campaign
of the A400M Roll-on/Roll-off firefighting prototype kit, dropping
20,000 litres of retardant and creating high concentration lines
over 400 metres long.
Over a period of two weeks, the A400M carried out
ground and flight-test campaigns in
Spain that included six drops, three of which used red-coloured
retardant and three using water.
“We have tested a new version of the kit,
improving dropping efficiency and reducing discharge time by over
30% compared to last year, while combined with rapid deployment
and easy installation on the A400M aircraft,” said Jean-Brice
Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus Defence and Space.
“We continue to pioneer new solutions and capabilities for our
A400M fleet, in this case protecting populations and natural
environments from fires.”
Airbus A400M Firefighter
The roll-on/roll-off kit does not require any
modification to the aircraft and is therefore interchangeable to
any A400M.
The water or retardant is stored in a tank in the
cargo hold of the aircraft and, by using a mechanical lever, a
door is opened to allow the liquid to flow out of the aircraft through a discharge pipe. The
current design of the prototype is capable of dropping 20,000 litres in a single discharge.
The tanks can be filled in less than 10 minutes
using standard high-pressure pumps on the ground.
In July 2022, Airbus tested a removable
firefighting demonstrator kit on the A400M for the first time. The
company concluded that the A400M firefighting kit offers
additional capabilities not available on the market thanks to its
high-dropping capacity, manoeuvrability and the potential to
convert any regular A400M in any fleet to a firefighting aircraft
at very short notice.
The A400M is also ideally suited to firefighting
as it is designed to take off and land on short and
unpaved runways.
Airbus A400M at Don Mueang Airport (DMK) in Bangkok – Interior and Exterior Tour – April 2012
Latest
exclusive video interviews:
Diethelm Travel Rebrands as DTH Travel;
El Nido Resorts in Philippines to Close for Major Renovations;
Sabre Hospitality Solutions;
Travel Trade Show to Take Over Major Football Stadium in Brazil;
Browns Hotels & Resorts (Sri Lanka);
Goa Tourism (India);
Madhya Pradesh Tourism (India);
Karnataka Tourism (India);
Arabian Camp (Saudi
Arabia);
Rajasthan Tourism (India);
Urban Air Mobility;
Sandrine de Saint Sauveur, President and CEO of APG;
Air Tahiti Nui;
TAAG Angola Airlines;
APG World Connect 2023 in Monaco, France;
Love The Philippines;
Saudi Arabia’s Air Connectivity Program;
Malaysia Airports;
Skyscanner;
Airports in Sweden – Swedavia;
Singapore Changi Airport – CAG;
Airports / Aviation in Scotland;
JFK T6;
Tourism Malaysia;
Mactan-Cebu Int. Airport in Philippines (CEB);
Helsinki Airport (HEL);
Suvarnabhumi Airport’s (BKK) New Satellite Terminal;
Korea Airports Corporation;
Beijing Daxing Airport (PKX);
Electric Airport Taxis at Almaty Airport (ALA) in Kazakhstan;
MYAirline – Exclusive Interview with CEO;
15 HD Video Interviews from World Travel
Market 2023 in London, England
(WTMLDN);
5 HD Video Interviews from APG World Connect 2023 in Monaco, France;
and
13 HD Video Interviews from Routes World 2023 in Istanbul, Türkiye.
