(Feb 4): Airbus SE said it’s aiming to deliver a concept version of its “mothership” A400M cargo plane by 2029 after developing it with a European customer to use the aircraft to deploy drones and deep strike weapons.
The plane will use a modular roll-on, roll-off system to load the drones into the plane, A400M programme head Gerd Weber said at the Singapore Airshow on Wednesday (Feb 4). A medium-sized mothership will be able to carry as many as 50 drones, he said.
“We can deploy as a swarm,” Weber said. “That is going to offer a deep strike capability that we have not seen so far.”
He declined to name the co-developer, which is an existing user of prior versions of the four-engine turboprop. Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK are A400M customers.
The US has experimented with similar capabilities, deploying weapons from the back of aircraft like the C-130 with the Rapid Dragon programme.
The Chinese have also been exploring the concept of a mothership. In December, China conducted the maiden flight of what is considered to be the world’s largest drone mothership, Jiutian, which was introduced to the public at an air show in Zhuhai in 2024.
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Its belly can also carry more than 100 small drones designed to launch in swarms to overwhelm enemy air defences. Its size, however, could reduce its stealth in combat, according to weapons experts.
Jiutian is produced by state-controlled Xi’an Chida Aircraft Parts Manufacturing Co.
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