Airbus has had a new corrosionrelated ‘headache’, not on an airliner but on its largest military aircraft, the A400M.
Disclosure Airbus
The military freighter was one of the most daring projects of the European manufacturer along with the A380 and also managed to defeat the American competitor, in this case the Lockheed Martin C130 Hercules, which is about to turn 70 years of operation.
While the A380 had few orders because it was considered inefficient for many routes and too large for many airports, the A400M had another shortcoming: its size, much larger than the C130, in addition to its new engines (which are the largest and largest are the most powerful turboprops of all time) brought costs and problems that drove new customers away.
Because of this. its activity was limited to a small group of 10 countries. One of the most important is the United Kingdom, which is also a partner in the development of the aircraft with Germany, France, Spain and others.
corrosion
Recently, corrosion problems affected Qatar Airways’ A350, which broke ties with Airbus but was not limited to them and also reached the A400M, but in a very different way.
A Royal Air Force (RAF) source told Aviation Source that corrosion is nagging at “the electrical connection ring, hydraulics, clamps and bolts,” indicating it’s not as aesthetic and physical as the A350, which is made of composite materials, unlike the A400M, which uses conventional aircraft aluminum.
Corrosion was part of the RAF’s decision to phase out the older C130s, although the latest version, the C130J Super Hercules, is still in their inventory. However, the A400M are much newer than the Hercules, which has caused dissatisfaction among pilots wanting to continue flying the C130.
Airbus itself confirmed the incident to the portal, saying that “a routine inspection of some RAF aircraft revealed corrosion in the landing gear bay (where the wheels are stored). We are working closely with the British and a repair is now available and being carried out on the aircraft to ensure their safe operation.”
According to flighttracking platform RadarBox, an A400M, registration ZM410, which has not flown since last year and was stopped at its base in Brize Nortone, could be one of the planes affected by the corrosion.
The Hercules, in turn, is scheduled to leave the RAF in 2023, which has already been postponed several times, precisely because of the problems with the A400M.