Airbus has found corrosion on the A400M and pilots are calling for Hercules to return

A new wear-related ‘headache’ has emerged for Airbus, though not on a commercial airliner but on its largest military aircraft, the A400M.

The military cargo ship was one of the European manufacturer’s most daring projects alongside the A380, and was also built to defeat an American competitor, in this case the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules, approaching 70 years of operations.

While the A380 had few orders because it was considered inefficient for many routes and too big for many airports, the A400M had another drawback: its much larger size than the C-130, as well as its new engines (which are larger and more powerful turboprops that were manufactured at all), brought costs and problems, turning away new customers.

And therefore. Its operations were 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.

Eat

Recently, corrosion problems affected Qatar Airways’ A350 aircraft, which Cut ties with Airbusincluding but not limited to accessing the A400M, But in a very different way.

According to a source in the Royal Air Force informed the portal aviation sourcecorrosion eats “Electric and hydraulic coupling ring, clamps and screws”indicating that it is nothing as aesthetically pleasing and outwardly as the A350, and is made of composite materials, unlike the A400M which uses traditional aviation aluminum.

The wear was part of the RAF’s decision to retire older C130s, although their latest version, the C130J Super Hercules, is still in stock. However, the A400Ms are much newer than the Hercules, and this has dismayed pilots who wished to continue flying the C130.

Airbus itself confirmed this to the Gateway, saying that “Corrosion was found in the landing gear compartment (where the wheels are stored) during routine inspections of some RAF aircraft. We are working closely with the British and there is a repair now available and being applied to the aircraft to ensure they are operating safely.”.

According to flight tracking platform data RadarBoxThere is an A400M, registration ZM410, which has not flown since last year and is stationed at its base in Brisbane Norton. It could be one of the aircraft affected by the corrosion.

Hercules, in turn, is scheduled to retire in 2023 in the RAF, which has already been postponed several times, precisely because of the problems with the A400M.