Airbus has signed two strategic contracts with the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), an international organisation based in Bonn, Germany, which manages the A-400M programme on behalf of the Launch Customer Nations Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg. These new contracts are the so-called A-400M Global Support Services (GSS3) and Block Upgrade 0 to enhance the aircraft’s scope of capabilities.

The Global Support Services contract, which covers all airplane-user nations, replaces the previous agreement signed in 2019. The new contract provides a full range of tailored services by Airbus to meet the needs of its customers. These services range from ground tools, spares delivery and technical support, giving flexibility to industry and operators to explore new areas of collaboration, concepts and services.

The A-400M GSS3 contract brings the benefits of a fully-integrated suite of common services using shared resources and assets in combination with specific nation’s requests. Performance-based, it creates a new partnership framework based on pooling and sharing, with clear performance indicators to boost and incentivise fleet availability and reduce the cost of ownership.

The agreement between the industries includes a second contract, the so-called Block Upgrade 0. It represents the first upgrade of the A-400M’s operational capabilities beyond the scope of the original launch contract.

Block Upgrade 0 not only improves key elements of the aircraft systems, such as flight management systems, it will ensure the fleet is fully compliant with the latest NATO requirements. Tactical Information enhancement, Satellite based Landing System or Narrow Band SATCOM and Wifi will be among the new enhanced capabilities.

This Block Upgrade 0 contract is an end-to-end contract covering the development, certification, embodiment and in-service support of these enhancements. The initial phase has already started and will be completed by end 2026, while the next phases, including notably the fleet’s embodiment and in-service training, will continue until the end of the decade.

Having reached and demonstrated maturity in combat and humanitarian operations for more than 10 years, these enhancements on the A-400M fleet will expand its capabilities in tactical and strategic operations, further increasing its performance and reducing the crew workload.