Airbus A400M/H225M: A winning duo

In the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, small wild cats known as caracals can be found roaming freely. In the sky above them, Atlas and Caracal might also be seen together, but for very different reasons...

Atlas is the name given by the French Air and Space Force to the A400M heavy transport aircraft, while Caracal refers to the H225M, an 11-tonne helicopter. Both are multi-role aircraft developed by Airbus. Since the A400M’s in-flight refuelling capability was approved for the French Air Force in early 2025, the two aircraft have become fully compatible. The H225M, the only helicopter with in-flight refuelling capabilities in the French Armed Forces, can now fully benefit from this partnership.

 

Designed for the most demanding missions

The H225M is one of the most versatile helicopters in the world, designed for the most demanding missions, including special operations and search and rescue in combat zones. One of its strengths is its range, which can exceed 1,000 km under normal conditions. With in-flight refuelling, the H225M can go even further, with flights lasting over 10 hours. The French Air and Space Force has repeatedly demonstrated the potential of in-flight refuelling, both in operations and on exercise. The A400M has also proven its worth many times in operations and on exercise on every continent with the French Armed Forces: transporting troops and equipment, performing parachute drops, medical evacuations and evacuations of citizens. Its list of capabilities is long, but until recently there was still one left to validate; the Air and Space Force’s A400Ms have been refuelling fighter jets for several years, but their ability to refuel helicopters had not yet been tested by the French Armed Forces. That milestone has now been achieved.

A remarkable achievement

Airbus had already demonstrated the A400M’s ability to refuel helicopters in flight. Still, moving from an industrial qualification to a military qualification can take several months or even years. For the French Air Force, this process began in June 2023 with preliminary tests carried out by the Air Warfare Centre (Centre d’Expertise Aérien Militaire) and the French Defence procurement Agency (DGA). Two further test campaigns followed in February and March 2024. In early 2025, the capability was deemed fully mature, and the Air and Space Force is now authorised to refuel its H225M Caracal helicopters in flight from its A400Ms in operations. France will eventually have five helicopter refuelling kits that can be adapted for the A400M. “Giving the A400M this capability was a remarkable achievement,” explains Lieutenant Colonel Nicolas, A400M officer for the French Air and Space Force. “Imagine an aircraft with a maximum weight of 140 tonnes flying close to its stall speed of 110 knots so that it can match a helicopter’s speed.” 

According to the Air Force pilot, it is the A400M’s excellent electronic flight controls that make this feat possible. Airbus had to update the A400M’s flight control systems to adapt them to this very specific flight regime. The refuelling pods and handles were also specially adapted for helicopters. With the A400M and H225M, the French Air and Space Force has projection capabilities that are virtually unmatched worldwide. This is all the more impressive given that the H225M can be loaded onto the A400M and deployed anywhere in the world in a matter of hours. The Air Force can therefore quickly deploy both aircraft to carry out operations deep behind enemy lines, whether that involves deploying commandos or recovering ejected pilots. These capabilities far exceed what was predicted in theory, as was clearly demonstrated very recently during Exercise Athena, which took place from 12 to 23 May 2025 and saw the winning A400M Atlas - H225M Caracal duo in action for the first time in such an exercise.