A400M turns tanker: France deploys a military A400M firefighting “water bomber” in Gironde, dropping 20 tonnes of retardant
For the first time, a French Air Force A400M has been deployed to fight a wildland fire in Gironde, equipped with a special payload kit. The aircraft carried out retardant drops—20 tonnes per sortie—and trials of a tank-installed configuration were previously tested to adapt the cargo bay for firefighting operations.