Fewer than half of the RAF’s 22 A400M Atlas transport aircraft are fully ready for operations on a typical day, the Ministry of Defence has disclosed as it handed Airbus a £190 million contract extension to keep the fleet flying.
In an announcement on Thursday, the MoD said the deal should lift the number of fully mission-capable aircraft available each day from 10 to 13 by the end of 2027.
The MoD billed that as a 30 per cent boost in availability. It is, but it starts from a low base. Even if the target is met in full, nine of the 22 aircraft would still be unavailable on an average day.
The Atlas is the workhorse of the RAF’s transport fleet. It carries troops, vehicles and supplies into short and rough airstrips that larger jets cannot use, and since the RAF retired its C-130J Hercules in 2023 it has been the force’s main tactical transport. The larger C-17 Globemaster carries the heaviest long-range loads.
The 22nd and final aircraft in the British order was delivered to RAF Brize Norton in May 2023, completing a fleet that first entered service in 2014.
Contract runs to 2029
The new deal is a 31-month extension to the existing Medium-Term Contract with Airbus, which maintains, repairs and supports the fleet from its UK Support Centre at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Support will now continue until April 2029.
The MoD said the work sustains more than 350 UK jobs, made up of more than 240 Airbus staff and 110 staff at its main subcontractors.
Luke Pollard, the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, said: “This contract extension is a vote of confidence in British engineering, and the workforce at Brize Norton and Carterton who keep our A400M fleet flying.”
He added: “By boosting availability of these aircraft, we’re strengthening the RAF’s ability to conduct global operations and deliver on NATO commitments when it matters most, while backing UK jobs and delivering value for money for taxpayers.”
Air Commodore Si Young, Head of Air Mobility in National Armaments Materiel, said the contract would “deliver continued improvements in A400M fleet availability, building on the growth that we have delivered over recent years”.
Contracted, but not yet delivered
What has been signed is the support contract. The extra aircraft on the flight line are a target, not a result, and the deadline is the end of next year.
The announcement did not say how availability is measured, how many aircraft are currently away for scheduled maintenance or upgrades, or what happens if Airbus falls short of the 13-aircraft goal. Nor did it give a breakdown of what the £190 million buys beyond the extended service period.
Those questions matter because the Atlas is not a niche asset. Defence Equipment and Support, the MoD’s procurement arm, has said the aircraft played a pivotal role in evacuating entitled personnel from Afghanistan and Sudan. In Sudan in 2023, operating from an austere airfield, it helped fly more than 2,200 people to safety.
It has also flown relief missions after floods and earthquakes, supported operations in the Middle East and the Falklands, and holds a round-the-clock national standby commitment at home.
Each aircraft can carry 37 tonnes of cargo over 2,000 nautical miles and land on semi-prepared strips at night using night vision goggles. That is the capability the RAF needs on call when a crisis breaks, often with little warning.
The MoD said the contract builds on its Defence Investment Plan, which it says commits £298 billion to defence over the next four years.
For the crews and engineers at Brize Norton, the extension brings certainty to April 2029. For the RAF, the measure that counts is simpler. Today 10 aircraft are ready for operations on a typical day. The promise is 13 by the end of 2027, from a fleet of 22.
