RMAF Completes 10 Years with Airbus A400M

Our Bureau - : May 20, 2025 - : 12:46 am

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2025 marks 10 years since the first Airbus A400M tactical transport (MSN22) was delivered to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in March 2015. The first aircraft was handed over to the RMAF at Airbus Defence & Space’s final assembly facility in Seville, Spain. Malaysia was the first export customer for the A400M and the RMAF received its fourth aircraft in 2017. The Royal Malaysian Air Force today operates four A400Ms with No 22 squadron located at the Subang Air Base. The four-engine aircraft is primarily used to transport passengers and cargo (particularly heavy cargo), with air-to-air refuelling trials having underscored the potential for new mission applications. The A400M combines the capabilities of a tactical and strategic aircraft, with the ability to transport heavy and outsized cargo on to short, unprepared airstrips, flying at low altitudes or dropping up to 116 paratroopers or 25 tonnes of cargo. The A400M’s 37-tonne payload capacity and cargo-hold ability of up to 340 cubic metres enable the transportation of such sizeable equipment as the Chinook helicopter.

RMAF A400Ms have emerged not only as a vital military asset but an invaluable platform used across countless humanitarian missions. RMAF A400Ms have delivered humanitarian aid following natural disasters like the 2018 earthquake in Indonesia or 2023 in Turkey and Syria to carrying medical supplies to hospitals and healthcare centres during the COVID19 pandemic. The RMAF has invested significant resources to ensure its A400Ms can assist in the event of a natural disaster anywhere in the region.

Since the delivery of the first A400M to the RMAF in 2015, successive deliveries of the aircraft have transformed the RMAF’s heavylift capability – strategic and technical, since the aircraft is bigger, has better performance, can carry more and heavier payloads, and fly longer and faster. The type is heavily used by the RMAF as a key logistical asset providing vital transport capabilities to the Indo-Pacific region and also in large-scale air force exercises such as Pitch Black. Till date, the RMAF remains the only operator of the type in the IndoPacific. As per Airbus, as on December 2024, it had delivered more than 130 A400Ms to nine countries and the global fleet has accumulated 200,000 flight hours, participating in missions such as the evacuation of civilian and military personnel from Afghanistan, Sudan and Niger.

Malaysia will soon be joined by Indonesia as an A400M operator. Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence had placed orders for two Airbus A400Ms in 2021. The agreement includes a complete maintenance and training support package. Airbus announced this January that the first Airbus A400M MSN148 for the Indonesian Air Force had entered the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Seville, marking a significant milestone in the production of this multirole tanker and transport aircraft ahead of its delivery by the end of 2025.

The new aircraft are expected to significantly enhance the Indonesian Air Force’s operational flexibility, supporting strategic and tactical missions, humanitarian assistance, medical evacuation, and aerial refuelling. The A400M is an ideal platform for refuelling fighter and other major aircraft by means of two underwing refuelling pods. Its built-in airto-air refuelling capability allows rapid reconfiguration as a tanker, making it easily adaptable to changing operational scenarios and missions.

Airbus / Rmaf / Lima /

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