The Airbus A400M Atlas is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military, now Airbus Defence and Space, as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities to replace older transport aircraft, such as the Transall C-160 and the Lockheed C-130 Hercules. The A400M is sized between the C-130 and the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. It can carry heavier loads than the C-130 and can use rough landing strips. In addition to its transport capabilities, the A400M can perform aerial refueling and medical evacuation when fitted with appropriate equipment.
Airbus A400M Atlas
The A400M (third from top) and aircraft it is intended to replace or complement: C-130 (top), C-130J-30 and C-17 (bottom).
An A400M viewed from below
The first A400M during the world presentation in Seville, June 2008
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
GE T64 turboprop, with the propeller on the left, the gearbox with accessories in the middle, and the gas generator (turbine) on the right
A Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent on a test rig at Hucknall, in March 1945
The Kuznetsov NK-12 is the most powerful turboprop to enter service
A military transport aircraft, over 2,500 Lockheed C-130 Hercules have been built