The Indonesia Ministry of Defence has placed an order for two A-400M aircraft in multirole tanker and transport configuration. 

The contract, which will become effective in 2022, will bring the total number of its operators to ten Nations. The agreement includes a complete maintenance and training support package. A Letter of Intent was also signed for the future acquisition of four additional airplanes. 

Capable of operating from rough and short runways, the model will strengthen the Indonesian Air Force’s airlift capabilities to rapidly respond to any crisis, demonstrated in the aftermath of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck the country in 2018. The A-400M was the first large airlifter able to deliver heavy loads like fuel trucks and excavators as well as food, clothes and medical supplies using a damaged and short runway in Palu (Central Sulawesi, Indonesia). 

The plane can carry heavy and outsize loads across strategic distances, deliver these into tactical locations, while offering the added aerial refuelling capability. An ideal solution to meet air forces’ multirole tanker and transport aircraft requirements. 

With the ability to fly fast and at high and extremely low altitudes, the plane is the ideal platform for refuelling fighter and other major aircraft by means of two underwing refuelling pods. Its built-in air-to-air refuelling capability allows rapid reconfiguration as a tanker, making it easily adaptable to changing operational scenarios and missions. This adaptability is suitable to this model, which can itself also be refuelled in flight.