At the NATO Summit Defence Forum, the governments of Belgium, Croatia, France, Poland, Spain, Türkiye and the United Kingdom, launched a High Visibility Project for the A-400M aircraft.

This multinational initiative builds on the success of the Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF). It is designed to address strategic airlift capability gaps among European allies, with the eventual establishment of a Multinational Fleet centred on the A-400M military airplane. 

Built upon a ‘pooling and sharing’ strategy, this initiative envisions different stages of cooperation among participating Nations, ranging from a multinationally owned and operated A-400M fleet to related services such as maintenance, training support, infrastructure and procurement.

The goal is to create an end-to-end solution that more effectively fulfills national and NATO requirements, while offering greater operational flexibility in specific capabilities including  air-to-air refuelling, disaster relief, medical evacuation and firefighting.

This A-400M multinational initiative is inspired by the success of the MMF, which from 2020 operates the A-330 Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft, the most capable and combat-proven strategic tanker available.

This successful programme provides nations the exclusive right to operate NATO-owned A-330 MRTT aircraft in a pooling arrangement, delivering commonality, cost efficiency and interoperability on both sides of the Atlantic. It remains a prime example of European operational defence collaboration.

Alongside the A-400M agreement, NATO has officially announced the incorporation of Finland as a new member of the Multinational MRTT Fleet, expanding the base of participating nations and reinforcing European sovereignty in critical defence capabilities. 

The MMF programme now comprises nine participating nations: the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Czechia, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

The announcement showcases the strong cooperation between NATO, the participating nations and industry, led by Airbus. The programme stands as an example of how nations can pool and share resources to secure continuous access to state-of-the-art capabilities, demonstrating how Europe can respond effectively to evolving security challenges through innovation and cooperation.

With nine A-330 MRTTs in operation from a total order of 12 airplanes, the MMF unit has already deployed to  NATO's Eastern Flank, supported civilian and refugee evacuations in Afghanistan, and participated in multinational exercises in the Indo-Pacific region.