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Berlin / Wunstorf
"The Flying Hospital" German Armed Forces
Up to now, the A400M Airbus was considered a breakdown aircraft. His image improves – and he gets new functions
Berlin / Wunstorf. The straps are much narrower than the hospital beds, but otherwise it looks like an intensive care unit. There are ventilation devices, pumps for infusion and monitoring of the patient, so the control of vital values such as heart rate or blood pressure. With oxygen on board, critically injured people can be artificially ventilated until ten o'clock. The Bundeswehr can now use its A400M transport aircraft as a "flying hospital" to rescue the wounded in crisis areas. An aircraft equipped as an air ambulance was presented Tuesday in Berlin
After the demonstration, the return flight to Wunstorf in Lower Saxony, where the A400M is stationed. Anyone who has attached and used his earplugs against noise could experience that this plane is actually flying. And it is calm in the air. The drivers, who have already driven the vintage Transall, characterize the A400M as a modern SUV, endowed with all the technical finesse and comfort.
For a long time, the most modern military carrier in the world has produced only negative titles. There have been a lot of political disputes and technical complications, including engine problems or cracks in the hull. According to the Ministry of Defense, they delayed delivery of the total of 53 aircraft ordered by Airbus by more than eleven years and increased costs by 1.5 billion euros compared to the amount originally planned. The A400M has evolved from a flagship project into a problematic case, a GAU for the Bundeswehr, a symbol of miserable conditions in the supply of arms. Even the troupe opposed to the otherwise well-intentioned media provided the leaflet with the label "problem bird". At the beginning of last year, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) wanted to fly with an A400M – but he had to stay on the ground because of a breakdown. The ridicule was great. The Bundeswehr is now trying to make the A400M a success. In recent months, the refueling of combat aircraft with A400M refueling is working. At the end of July, a machine with 75 Bundeswehr soldiers disembarked at Masar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan for the first time
. From Wednesday, the Luftwaffe offers this service. Inside the military transport, which can normally accommodate 116 soldiers, including the crew, the six beach chairs and medical equipment will be installed within three to four hours. Future patients must be transportable and have already been cared for on site or have already undergone surgery. The operations on board are not planned, the pressure conditions during the flight are too bad. The task of doctors is primarily to stabilize patients, to bring them safely to Germany. The doctors of the Bundeswehr hospitals in Berlin and Hamburg will then supply the soldiers. In total, 14 soldiers will be in the crew, including eleven in the medical field.
Benedikt Zimmer, Secretary of Defense, spoke Tuesday of significant progress. "Protecting and caring for German soldiers is our highest priority," said Zimmer. Until now, medical evacuation has been an international resource for shortages.
The aircraft has a range of 7000 kilometers
Currently, up to six wounded soldiers can be provided, but soon it will also be possible to carry eight or ten. This could be particularly important for the German armed forces, if troops in future missions were increasingly involved in heavy fighting. It is estimated that next year there will be about 30 missions for "the flying hospital". Currently, the Bundeswehr can convert only one A400M, but by 2020 there should be four intensive care units in the air. Until now, the Air Force was only an old A310 airliner available for medical evacuations.
The new transport aircraft has a range of about 7000 kilometers with a normal load, so can pick up wounded soldiers in Mali or Afghanistan without refueling. One of the advantages of the A400M is that it comes with a "shielding kit" that can withstand light. In the coming years, military transport will be equipped with other defensive techniques – infrared detection, radar protection and laser defense system, under development.
The squad received 19 of these modern transports from Airbus, all at Wunstorf Stationed near Hanover, about eight machines are currently ready to fly, to the other is screwed plan or unforeseen. In 2026, the Bundeswehr must have 53 copies ordered, 13 of which are for resale.
The Secretary of State Zimmer is ambitious. "The development of this aircraft is still ongoing," Zimmer told Airbus. On average, eight of the 15 A400Ms available were ready for use last month. "A first step in the right direction". Zimmer thinks this plane "will one day become a success".
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