6 July 2026 09:46 UTC · NATO · NATO News · Source · Email X Link

NATO announces multinational A400M fleet project

Key points

Launched A400M multinational High Visibility Project
Finland joined MRTT; 10th A330 MRTT delivery imminent

TL;DR

Seven NATO Allies launched a multinational High Visibility Project for Airbus A400M strategic airlift at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, Türkiye.
The project uses a 'pooling and sharing' concept to pool aircraft, share costs, and cooperate on joint procurement, logistical support and training.
Finland joined the Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Fleet; the nine MRTT members announced imminent delivery of the 10th Airbus A330 MRTT toward a 12-aircraft capacity.

Original text

Create an account Reset password Already have an account? Log in From now on you can download videos from our website If you would also like to subscribe to the newsletter and receive our latest updates, click on the button below. Enter the email address you registered with and we will send you a code to reset your password. The password must be at least 12 characters long, no spaces, include upper/lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Click the button to return to the page you were on and log in with your new password. 07 July 2026 2 MIN READ Photo: AIRBUS On Tuesday (7 July), NATO Allies took a major step to increase NATO and national strategic airlift and tanker capabilities. At the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, Türkiye, seven NATO Allies (Belgium, Croatia, France, Poland, Spain, Türkiye and the United Kingdom) launched a new multinational High Visibility Project for a fleet on the Airbus A400M military aircraft. The A400M multinational initiative follows the success of the multinational Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) fleet, which received its first aircraft in 2020. It will follow the same ‘pooling and sharing’ concept, where participating countries pool the aircraft and share costs, benefitting from economies of scale. The project also allows participating Allies to cooperate in areas such as joint procurement, logistical support or training. The Airbus A400M gives NATO and Allied forces much greater operational flexibility, and allows the movement of military assets across the Alliance in peace, conflict and crisis. It has a high payload and a long-range, which means it can access locations that many larger aircraft cannot reach. Alongside the A400M multinational initiative, Finland joined the Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Fleet (MMF). Together, the nine MRTT members (Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden) also announced the imminent delivery of the 10th Airbus A330 MRTT aircraft, bringing the Fleet closer to its full capacity of 12 aircraft. Both the A400M and the A330 MRTT fleets bring advanced multi-role performance, higher efficiency, and greater interoperability. They deliver exceptional air-to-air refuelling, strategic airlift, and medical evacuation capabilities to the Alliance and help support strong deterrence and defence. Link was copied to clipboard

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Ankara

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Europe