Imposing, latest technology, and capable of transporting at least 30 tons of load, The A400M, of the French manufacturer Airbus, It is one of the military -use cargoes that the European company seeks to put in the eyes of the Mexican armed forces for their acquisition … but during its exhibition at the Mexican aerospace Fair (FAMX) 2025 failed and could not perform the test flight.
Airbus brought, from Spain, the aircraft operated by the Spanish Air Force, to exhibit it as part of the aerospace fair held in the Military Air Base in Santa Lucíaalso with the intention of presenting it, once again, to elements of the army that are analyzing the purchase of at least two military use aircraft that allow the armed forces to carry out operations of the DN-III-E Plan, special safety flights, among other uses.
“We believe it is the plane for Mexico”, Said Víctor de la Vela, Vice President for Latin America of the Airbus Defense and Space Division during the presentation of the A400mthe plane that has tried to sell the company to the Mexican government from the 2014.
The Ministry of National Defense (Sedena) She is interested in acquiring two cargo aircraft for military and strategic security operations, but is still analyzing which is the ideal team for the investment that is budgeted since 2022 in the army acquisition portfolio.
The A400M exhibition in Santa Lucía was one of the opportunities for the elements of the Armed Forces to observe the performance of the aircraft in height conditions of the Valley of Mexico, in addition to other elements to consider, such as the medical modules, among other requirements of the Sedena to assess the feasibility of the plane.
“You have to see the capacity of the plane in terms of loading in conditions of the height of Mexico,” said one of the military elements that would participate in the exhibition flight in Santa Lucía.
How was the A400M fault, Airbus plane that seeks to sell to the Mexican army?
Airbus convened a group of just over 50 members, including elements of the Mexican Air Force, Aviation Executives, Journalists from Brazil, Colombia and Mexicoamong them, El Financiero, for the exhibition of the aircraft that has been used in rescue operations in South Sudan and Afghanistan, but could not fly at exhibition at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) by a failure detected during the truck.
One of the pilots of the military aircraft commented that detected a failure in the plane control controls, So it was not safe to perform the exhibition flight.
The Spanish military tried to reactivate the systems of the aircraft de -managed the plane completely and turning the systems to reverse the failure, but it was not enough.
After a wait for just over an hour, the captain in command of the aircraft announced that it could not Perform the safety flight.
Later, the Airbus communication team assured that the ruling was due to a “overheating for being exposed so much time to the sun “.
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