Airbus A400M cleared to refuel V-22 Osprey
January 13, 2025
Airbus Defence and Space used its social media channels to reveal that a new receiver had been ‘unlocked’, noting that a Team Luftwaffe A400M had successfully passed fuel to a US Navy V-22 Osprey during an ongoing flight test campaign.
Airbus noted that: “This further expands the German A400M’s role as a tanker and marks a step towards increasing interoperability with NATO partners.”
The Airbus A400M has been flying for the German Air Force for ten years – and by November 2024, had completed more than 51,000 flying hours in Luftwaffe service, 25,000 of them since January 2022.
Airbus handed over the first A400M to the Bundeswehr on 18 December 18 2014, and it was delivered to the 62nd Air Transport Wing (LTG 62) at Wunstorf the following day. By December 2024, Airbus had delivered 48 of the 53 A400Ms ordered by the German Armed Forces. Some 47 of the aircraft delivered are stationed at Wunstorf, with one aircraft at Airbus in Seville for testing the self-protection system.
The A400M can load and transport up to 37 tonnes of cargo, but can also be configured as a flying hospital for the MedEvac role. The A400M is also used by the Bundeswehr for in-flight refuelling, carrying 63,500 litres of fuel and capable of refuelling two Eurofighters simultaneously, or another A400M. A growing number of aircraft types have been qualified as receivers including both fixed-wing and rotary-wing platforms. The V-22 Osprey is the latest addition to that list.
