The A400M has been a long time coming. Its development challenges have been well documented. But with full European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Type Certification achieved, initial military certification imminent and delivery of the first customer aircraft to the Armee de I'Air (French Air Force) due soon, the A400M is at last becoming a reality. EASA certification was awarded on March 13, concluding an intense certification testing campaign (see Taming the Grizzly, January 2013, p70). The milestone means that military certification is now just weeks away. Damian Allard, A400M Market Development Manager, told AIR International: "It's still on-going. We expect to get military certification sooner rather than later. As soon as we get the certification we'll deliver the aircraft to the French Air Force." AIlard didn't provide a specific timeframe about when the certification might be achieved and MSN7, the first series production aircraft, handed over, only saying that the target is to complete this process in the second quarter.
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