Messier-Bugatti-Dowty has delivered the first production-standard main landing gear shipset for the Airbus A400M military transport to the Airbus Military final assembly line in Seville, Spain.

This delivery comes in addition to five previous landing gear deliveries for A400M test aircraft.

Selected by Airbus Military in 2004, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty is responsible for the design, development, production, integration and support of the A400M landing system, including the main and nose landing gear, extension/retraction system, kneeling system and the steering system, including wheels and carbon brakes.

To meet the requirement of soft-field landing capability for unprepared runways, each of the main landing gears consists of three independent twin-wheel assemblies housed in the aircraft's aerodynamic fuselage sponsons. This twelve-wheel configuration contains the "high flotation" characteristics necessary for landings on unprepared terrain. Another feature includes kneeling capability to support requirements for loading large military and civilian vehicles. To meet this requirement the main landing gear shock absorbers have been designed to ensure a minimum distance between the ground and aircraft structure whatever the loading conditions, thus preserving the integrity of the aircraft structure.

Messier-Bugatti-Dowty Chairman and CEO Alain Sauret said: "We are especially pleased to achieve this milestone on an ambitious program such as the Airbus A400M, which harbors significant growth potential. Through this program, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty confirms its status as a major landing systems integrator, providing fully integrated landing and braking solutions to meet the operational requirements of an aircraft designed to carry out a wide variety of military and humanitarian missions under the most demanding conditions."