NATO has launched a multinational initiative built around the Airbus A400M, extending the alliance's shared fleet concept beyond aerial refueling aircraft.
The announcement came during the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, where Belgium, Croatia, France, Poland, Spain, Türkiye and the United Kingdom agreed to establish a High Visibility Project for the tactical airlifter.
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The initiative follows the same "pooling and sharing" model adopted by NATO's Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF). Participating countries will jointly finance and operate the aircraft instead of maintaining separate national fleets, allowing them to share acquisition, maintenance, logistics and training costs.
Unlike the A330 MRTT, which focuses on aerial refueling and strategic transport, the A400M combines tactical and strategic airlift capabilities. The aircraft can carry heavy cargo over long distances and also operate from shorter or unprepared runways, allowing military equipment and personnel to reach locations inaccessible to larger transport aircraft.
NATO said the program will improve the alliance's ability to move troops and equipment during peacetime, crises and military operations while increasing interoperability among participating air forces.
The summit also brought an expansion of the Multinational MRTT Fleet. Finland formally joined the program, becoming its ninth member alongside Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
The partners also announced that the tenth Airbus A330 MRTT assigned to the multinational fleet is close to delivery. The program ultimately calls for 12 aircraft, all based at Eindhoven Air Base in the Netherlands and Cologne-Wahn Air Base in Germany.
The A400M initiative extends a model that NATO has increasingly adopted for high-value military assets, allowing allies to expand capabilities without each country bearing the full cost of ownership and operation.
