- Reinforce the European strategic autonomy in the military transport segment;
- Develop vital military capabilities in highly contested environments (e.g., tactical transport, airdrop, air assault) against technologically advanced adversaries;
- Develop EU MEDEVAC capabilities and EU disaster relief, and sanitary crisis response capabilities;
- Promote and protect the European technological and industrial ecosystem, based on a potential new aircraft development;
- Enhance cross-border collaboration (from large industrial groups to SMEs) through the opportunities offered by the several elements of the platform and its architecture.
Objectives
Tactical transport aircrafts are the workhorses of battlefields, fulfilling missions like airdrop delivery, parachutist drop, logistics, medical evacuation (MEDEVAC), air to air refuelling, special missions under harsh and adverse conditions, which are critical for the success of military operations. Operations in hostile environments demand e.g., built in electronic warfare self-protection systems and set requirements on the platform performance/build up in order to be suitable for the task, and furthermore to operate with limited ground infrastructure (e.g., unprepared runways).
Beyond their pure military role, tactical transport aircrafts are also key assets for a better civil defence/protection and EU-internal needs, with critical contribution to disaster relief, search-and-rescue and sanitary crises response.
Beside the A400M, which is on the high-performance side of the capacity, the initial conception of
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