The highly advanced all-composite wing of the Airbus Military A400M new airlifter has passed the ultimate-load up-bend test – the critical static test required for certification.

Airbus Military is formally adopting the name Grizzly for its five-strong development fleet of A400M airlifters.

MSN 3 joins its sister-ships MSN 1 and MSN 2 which were also in the air during this test flight, meaning that 3 A400M were flying at the same time. During the day this fleet also passed the milestone of 100 test flights and 400 flight hours.

Visitors will be able to get an exclusive first glimpse of the A400M, the all-new airlifter for the 21st Century and Airbus Military’s latest development, at the ILA Berlin Air Show taking place at Schönefeld Airport from June 8th to 13th.

The second Airbus Military A400M military airlifter has made its maiden flight yesterday 8th April.

EADS’ air-to-air refueling expertise will be a focus of this week’s Aerial Refueling Systems Advisory Group (ARSAG) conference, which will include updates on the Airbus Military A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT).

The second Airbus Military A400M, known as MSN2, has run all four of its Europrop International (EPI) TP400 turboprop engines in a series of trials after being handed over for flight test.

The first A400M is flying today from Seville to Toulouse following a test flight performed in the Seville area.

Following a series of three flights on consecutive days the Airbus Military A400M airlifter MSN1 has now completed a total of seven flights and clocked up 30hr 20min block time.

The first Airbus Military A400M military airlifter has landed back in Seville, Spain today at 14:02 local time (13:02 UTC) after completing a successful maiden flight lasting 3h 47min following its take-off at 10:15 local time.