《Military Technology》Heavy Airlift Transport Aircrafts of the World
recently the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom officially received the last a400m large Transport Aircraft from Airbus additionally several countries including Germany France the Netherlands and the Czech Republic are jointly discussing future strategic airlift options military airlift capabilities have once again become a topic of Interest so what kind of aircraft is the a400m which large Transport Aircraft will succeed it in Europe in this episode of military technology let's explore the steel bird Europe's primary military transport aircraft hello everyone welcome to military technology I'm your host Lon how before we dive in we need a small favor from you please take a moment to hit the Subscribe thumbs up and notification buttons below so you can stay updated on all our latest videos the Royal Air Force recently formally accepted the final a400m large Transport Aircraft from this bat it has been a decade since the first delivery of this type of aircraft to the French Air Force in 2013 over the years of service the a400m has gradually become the backbone of military transport aircraft across Europe but what performance capabilities does this aircraft possess as the world's economic political and Military landscape undergo significant changes European countries requirements for military transport aircraft have also evolved the C13 30 Transport Aircraft which entered service in the 1950s can no longer meet the needs of European nations additionally its design life of 30 years means that around 1,500 of these aircraft will face retirement how will this substantial Transport Aircraft Gap be filled that's the Urgent question back in 1982 a joint working group was established by France the United Kingdom Germany and the United States their goal was to collaboratively develop a new large transport aircraft to meet the usage requirements of these four nations designers meticulously crafted the overall layout cargo hold structure and loading/unloading systems the aircraft also features a wide body design increasing cargo hold volume and loading efficiency while enhancing Mission adaptability and short takeoff and Landing performance the a400m large Transport Aircraft has a total length of 43.8 m a height of 14.6 m a wingspan of 42 4 m a maximum payload of 37 tons and an empty maximum range of 9,300 km in terms of power it is equipped with 4 pt400 D6 engines each engine can deliver up to 11,000 horsepower compared to the C130 Transport Aircraft the a400m integrates propeller control into a full Authority digital engine control system this allows automatic management of propeller blade operation maintaining optimal efficiency speed in providing over speed protection flutter monitoring and automatic variable pitch and Feathering functions now above the a400m it's truly an intriguing Transport Aircraft originally developed to replace Europe's c160 and C130 it serves as a large tactical transport aircraft capable of strategic missions some Europeans even referred to it as a quasi strategic Transport Aircraft notably it employs a propeller driven approach and of it features the tp400 engines recently the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom officially received the last a400 M llarge Transport Aircraft from Airbus additionally several other countries including Germany France the Netherlands and the Czech Republic are jointly discussing future strategic airlift options military airlift capabilities have once again become a topic of Interest so what kind of aircraft is the a400m which large trans for aircraft will succeed it in Europe in this episode of military technology let's explore the steel bird Europe's primary military transport aircraft hello everyone welcome to military technology I'm your host Lon how the Royal Air Force recently formally accepted the last a400m large Transport Aircraft from this batch it has been 10 years since the first delivery of this type of aircraft to the French Air Force in 2013 over these years of service the a400m has gradually become the backbone of military transport aircraft across Europe but what performance capabilities does this aircraft possess with significant changes in the world's economic political and Military landscape European Count's demand for military transport aircraft has also evolved the C130 Transport Aircraft which entered service in the 1950s can no longer meet the needs of European nations additionally its design life of 30 years means that around 1,500 of these aircraft will face retirement how will this substantial Transport Aircraft Gap be filled that's the Urgent question as early as 1982 joint working groups from France the United Kingdom Germany and the United States decided to collaborate on developing a new large transport aircraft to meet the usage requirements of these four nations designers meticulously crafted the overall layout cargo holds structure and loading/unloading systems the aircraft also features a widebody design this design increases cargo hold volume enhances loading efficiency and improves Mission adaptability in short takeoff and Landing performance the a400m large Transport Aircraft has a total length of 43.8 m a height of 14.6 m a wingspan of 42.4 m a maximum payload of 37 tons and an empty maximum range of 9,300 km in terms of power it is equipped with 4 pt400 D6 engines each engine can deliver up to 11,000 horsepower compared to the C130 Transport aircrafts engines the a400m integrates propeller control into a full Authority digital engine control system this allows automatic management of propeller blade operation maintaining optimal efficiency speed and providing over speed protection flutter monitoring and automatic pitch variation and Feathering and what about the a400m well it's actually quite an interesting Transport Aircraft originally developed to replace Europe's c160 and C130 it aims to serve as a large tactical transport aircraft capable of strategic missions some Europeans even used to call it a quasi strategic Transport Aircraft the a400m employs a propeller-driven approach and its tp400 engines play a crucial role in its performance what about the engine in theory it is the largest turbo prop engine equipped by Western countries other than Russia of course the actual operational performance of this engine including reliability has been discussed in some reports from France and Germany now let's talk about the design of the a400m it uses a type of propeller with a reverse rotation on one side Which Europeans call centrifugal this design helps counteract the torque generated by the propeller rotation because it reverses the direction additionally it creates an aerodynamic effect between the two propellers enhancing lift in the wing section this feature is considered a significant advantage of the a400m apart from the engine let's explore the interior cargo hold design unlike the cylindrical cargo hold design of the C130 tactical Transport Aircraft the a400m adopts a rectangular shape this design increases the upper storage space while minimizing wasted space at the bottom in case of increased transport demand during combat an additional partition can be added to the upper space this allows for separate transport of soldiers and supplies significantly increasing its capacity despite its innovative design the a400m face delays during development the project initiated in 1982 spent 5 years just defining standards Italy and Spain joined in 1987 leading to differences with the US tactical trans sport concept the US eventually withdrew and more European countries joined expanding the project to 11 Nations collaboration across multiple countries made progress challenging after 21 years the a400m having completed only its blueprint finally enters operational stages in May 2003 the European Defense procurement agency signed a supply contract with Airbus and the a400m transport aircraft is about to enter production overall during the Cold War period European countries such as the United Kingdom France Germany Italy and Spain often collaborated on joint aircraft development however this cooperation was complicated by conflicting interests and power struggles several factors contributed to this situation firstly different countries invested varying amounts and everyone wanted to achieve more with less expenditure to maximize profits secondly companies from different countries VI for influence and advantages Additionally the overall Aviation Technology base and production capacity in European countries posed challenges many questions arose and European nations were not always aligned in their goals for instance some British companies preferred collaboration with the United States as a result nearly every collaborative project whether ground-based Naval or Airborne face delays these delays led to wasted funds and various logistical issues during the final equipment deployment Airbus leveraged its mature practices from civil large aircraft development for the a400m transport plane creatively they adopted a design as you build approach and the first prototype was also the production model however starting with the first lower fuselage frame manufactured in January 2005 the process of continually changing design plans introduced inevitable problems such as exceeding weight limits and budget overruns due to prolonged development time the Project's single delay alone resulted in a 25% budget increase and severe budget overruns LED some countries to cancel orders or reduce procurement quantities consequently the aircraft's price escalated reaching a staggering € 170 million EUR per unit although the a400m transport plane surpassed the C130 Transport Aircraft in overall performance it's 37 ton payload capacity struggle to fill the gap for strategic transport needs so what strategic Transport Aircraft do European countries primarily use now and what performance capabilities does it possess do to the difficulty of producing strategic transport planes and the significant market cap European nations often rely on leasing the antenna and 124 transport plane the n124 designed by the Soviet ANF design Bureau in the 1970s meets the Soviet Air Force's demand for heavy Transport Aircraft with a length of 69.1 m a
height of 20.78 M and a wingspan of 73.3 M equivalent to seven stories it can carry a maximum payload of 150 tons and has a maximum takeoff weight of 405 tons its spacious interior can accommodate up to three helicopters simultaneously after the destruction of the world's largest transport plane the an in 225 in 2022 the n124 took its place as the current largest military transport aircraft setting over 20 different world flight records since the dissolution of the Soviet Union this aircraft has been operated through commercial leasing it has provided Air transport services to numerous Western and European clients its most significant features include the adoption of a series of cuttingedge Soviet Technologies at the time such as the super critical Wing flyby wire flight control system and advanced manufacturing methods and materials for large structural components to reduce weight operating such a massive transport aircraft is no easy task the 4p1 18t large bypass turbo fan engines consume a substantial amount of fuel per hour to address this the n124 has a massive fuel tank integrated into its wings capable of carrying over 200 tons of fuel at once to prevent fuel sosing during flight and maintain stability the tank contains multiple baffles to minimize fuel movement each baffle has an Associated valve that the pilot can adjust now let's talk about the in 225 the world's largest cargo plane it's considered a standard Soviet Era Aviation Masterpiece during the Soviet period approximately 100 factories across the country were involved in producing this legendary aircraft which is unlikely to be replicated its remarkable cargo hold measures approximately 37 m in length the width is around 6.4 M and the height is 4.4 M the Soviet emphasis was on the Aston ing internal volume of 1,50 cubic M making its payload capacity truly impressive military transport aircraft primarily serve Air transport missions carrying military equipment and Personnel therefore the in 124's design centers around its cargo hold starting with convenience there's a massive rear cargo door for easy loading and unloading this design feature is quite common moving to the front the entire nose section can be lifted now you might wonder where the cockpit is located it's positioned in the upper space allowing the nose to open without compromising cockpit placement similar to the a400m transport aircraft standing at the nose you'll see a spacious flat area extending to the tail a space capable of accommodating tanks armored vehicles and even oversized cargo like helicopters and airplanes the N1 124's cargo hold is fully sealed for structural Integrity for strategic Transport Aircraft flying higher is important because the thinner air reduces the drag on large aircraft allowing them to fly farther the design of the front and rear cargo doors of the n14 ANF 124 is well thought out the projection of both doors corresponds to the dimensions of the cargo hold 6.44 m x 4 M this allows dual
entry from both sides or you can choose to enter from the front or rear the m124 features a fully accessible cargo hold with consistent Dimensions making it convenient for transporting oversized cargo for extremely large items such as those several dozen meters long and approximately 6 M wide the N 124 or even the larger in 225 are necessary as other aircraft lack the internal capacity for such wide loads the massive fuselage and exceptional cargo capacity of the m124 make it a prime representation of Soviet Era Aviation Heritage it has played a crucial role for the Russian mil in global cargo operations with loyal users across Europe and Western countries although the n124 excels in performance in cargo capacity it remains an inheritance from Russia in the future European countries May reduce their use of this aircraft type the question of who will fill the Gap left by the European strategic Transport Aircraft becomes urgent continuing to expand the lease of c17 Transport planes is one of the few options available the c177 was developed by the United States in the 1980s due to the limitations of the massive C5 Galaxy which couldn't operate from most runways worldwide after InterContinental strategic airlifts the C5 required additional C130 transports for onward delivery to the Mission Front this complex Logistics process led to the proposal of the new Transport Aircraft the new aircraft had two key requirements High cargo throughput and the ability to operate from simple Frontline airfields despite the challenging criteria the c7's development took 14 years its overall design fortunately met expectations the c17 follows a conventional layout for large transport planes featuring a caled upper wing and a swept back tail with a length of 53.0 4 m a height of 16.79% 4 m a maximum speed of 830 kmph a service ceiling of 13,700 M and a maximum range of 11,000 km the c17 delivers impressive performance although the c7's external dimensions are similar to The c141 Star lifa its spacious cargo hold Rivals that of the C5 Galaxy powered by four turbofan engines each with a Thrust of 18 tons the c17 has a maximum takeoff weight of 265 tons and a payload capacity of 77 tons the cargo hold measures 5.49 m in width and 2 6.82 m in length the c17 has a height of 4.11 M
and can transport six Jeeps or trucks it is also capable of carrying 3 h64 armed helicopters or a 66 ton M1 A2 main battle tank various Vehicles transported by air can be driven directly into the cargo hold the center line and sidewalls of the cargo hold have foldable seats allowing simultaneous transport of 102 fully armed combat Personnel the US has specific requirements for the c177 cargo hold different from other countries the discussion mainly revolves around the 462 L Air transport pallet standard what are the c7's requirements in this regard with 18 pallet positions what about the internal cargo hold generally if you're transporting 102 fully loaded paratroopers what method does the US military prefer in practice the US military often uses temporary seats installed on both sides of the aircraft these foldable seats accommodate over 50 Soldiers with 13 standard pallets in the middle besides its massive payload capacity the c17 is the world's only transport aircraft capable of both strategic and tactical missions this flexibility allows it to be deployed without the need to consider Runway capacity unlike other strategic Transport Aircraft whether on concrete grass or Sandy runways the c17 can perform Norm takeoff and Landing operations requiring a minimum distance of only 915 M like aircraft such as the c117 the key to being able to take off and land in complex terrain lies in its engines having a special thrust reversal capability these engines can provide idle reverse thrust during flight similar to how a car has braking and deceleration functions this significantly reduces the aircraft's flying speed and during Landing can greatly reduce the runway distance so do you you know how the c117 engines achieve this thrust reversal capability well what we have in front of us is a model of an aircraft engine when the engine operates normally air enters from the tail and is expelled forward creating forward thrust that keeps the aircraft flying however when we activate the frost reversal system a gap appears here air is drawn into the engine and reaches this area where the air flow disperses in all directions this helps Blow Away foreign objects on the Run way preventing them from entering the engine and causing malfunctions at the same time the system can also direct airf flow forward creating reverse thrust this allows the aircraft to break or even move backward it's worth noting that this engine's capability eliminates the need for a tow truck after all in complex field conditions an aircraft can't always rely on having a tow truck pared inside for adjusting its ground position the c17 transport aircraft besides its transport duties has sparked the imagination of the US military they want the c17 to carry cruise missiles effectively turning it into a tray bomber its 77 ton payload capacity allows for loading a single tray with nine missiles in January 2020 the US Air Force used the mc-130j Special Operations Transport Aircraft for the first demonstration and validation of the treay missile weapon system in April they conducted a second demonstration using the c17 transport aircraft to verify the feasibility of using the missile on the transport plane what happened at the very beginning of this project it was b11 that almost got scrapped at that time we said it wasn't B2 but B1 that came close to being eliminated so to maintain its air launched cruise missile capability the US air force modified the air launched cruise missile launch on this aircraft during flight they opened the tail compartment door and launched the cruise missile externally but why conduct this test the main force of the United States now includes strategic bombers like the B52 and p-52 which require a 3,000 M Runway however the c17 only needs 1,100 M of course the c17 has a much broader range of applications and this Fleet operates globally theoretically if it were disguised using standard cargo pallets it could suddenly launch an air-launched cruise missile with a range exceeding 1,9 900 km while in Flight such capability is of course a terrifying and highly threatening measure for any country although the c17 transport aircraft has revolutionary performance its unit price is as high as $400 million making it unaffordable for most countries so far only a few countries including Australia India and Canada have equipped themselves with c7s European countries have only jointly leased a few free use the renewed focus on the c17 transport aircraft is primarily due to the difficulty in constructing strategic transport planes another major issue is that boing closed all C7 production lines in 2015 in other words considering purchasing this transport aircraft is likely wishful thinking the future development path for large transport aircraft in Europe is also a significant topic of discussion among multiple countries with limited options for overseas acquisition and significant challenges in independent development cooperation among nations becomes crucial from space-based surveillance And Timely warning interception projects to the European Sky Shield initiative there are various controversies and formidable obstacles to overcome ensuring that military airlift projects avoid repeating past mistakes will be an even greater challenge thank you dear viewers for continuing to follow the military technology Channel see you next week at the same time [Music] [Music]
2024-08-30 00:10
