Airbus A400 計劃

今天看到《都市日報》的英文部分提及空中巴士將會生產 A400 的軍用運輸機，請問有沒有詳細資料呢？

http://www.airbusmilitary.com/

這款是否是空中巴士首款軍用飛機呢？另外為什麼仍然要使用螺旋槳引擎而不是使用噴射引擎呢？

原帖由 hkaiw 於 2007-3-28 22:38 發表
這款是否是空中巴士首款軍用飛機呢？另外為什麼仍然要使用螺旋槳引擎而不是使用噴射引擎呢？

1. Both yes and no
No, because it isn't the first Airbus aircraft for military use, A310 MRT is the first type
Yes, because it is the first Airbus aircraft specifically designed for military use

And no again, as this project didn't belong to Airbus before.  It existed as FLA in the mid to late 80's, with several major design changes, arguments and delays, then the whole project was being absorbed into the Airbus company for better management...

2. One of the earliest FLA design did use turbofan engines (CFM56 planned), but soon dropped due to fuel efficiency and operating limit issue.  If the A400M use turbofan, it would be extremely difficult to fly in the low speed demanded for helicopter refuelling and airdrop operations.

The engine issue was a hot issue before.  Both Brits and the Frogs want to use their own engine as the A400M's sole engine.  The Brits engine was based on BR710, while the Frogs M138 engine, used the M88 as the core engine.  Although most analysis says that the Brit engine would perform much better, a final decision was made that the Brits and the Frogs would cooperate to develop a new engine called TP400, which used the M138 as core, with RR doing the rest...

原帖由 akboy 於 2007-3-28 23:43 發表


1. Both yes and no
No, because it isn't the first Airbus aircraft for military use, A310 MRT is the first type
Yes, because it is the first Airbus aircraft specifically designed for m ...

A400M is another classic demonstration if you try to involve too many countries to
develop a military platform. The other example being the Eurofighter Typhoon, which
is a fantastic aircraft nevertheness.

Part of the reason why the A400M is powered by turboprop is, I believe, because it is
much more forgiven against foreign object debris (FOD) than jet engine, which is crucial
for rough field operation it is designed for. it's interesting that BR710 was considered at
the start as well, but it's hardly a surprise either, considering this engine is being used
to power the Sentinel R1 surveillance aircraft and the upcoming Nimrod MRA4 maritime
patrol aircraft.