On 24th February 2025, Armée de l’air et de l’espace (the French Air and Space Force) achieved another milestone by successful deployment of Airbus A400M Atlas to equatorial area of French Guiana. It was the first operation of the French heavy airlifter performed in that region of the world.
Only a month after the French Air Force successfully deployed the A400M to cold areas of the Canadian Great North (Cold weather experiment – Airbus A400M Atlas), eye of the tactical transport team focused on another extreme weather region – tropical rainforests in French Guiana.
Within the French Air and Space Force joint mission named BUBO25, an A400M aircraft assigned to 1/61 ´Touraine´ Squadron from the 123rd airbase in Orleans (Base Aérienne 123) landed on a paved runway located in the vicinity of Maripasuola commune, in the Amazonian rainforest. Although the first, test flight was performed without any payload, the successful operation in French Guiana proved the airlifter is capable to complete tasks in the area and thereby be a significant support during humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions in the French overseas territory.
The landing at Maripasuola was arranged with close support of Forces armées en Guyane – FAG (the Armed Forces in French Guiana) and local authorities. Before the operation, the runway surrounded by dense equatorial forest was examined by experts from 25e régiment du génie de l’Air (the 25th Air Engineering Regiment) and approved for the A400M aircraft.
On its way to the Amazonian rainforest, the Atlas landed at the 367th airbase ´Captain François Massé´ (Base Aérienne 367 – BA 367), located at Cayenne-Félix Éboué International Airport. Arriving to Cayenne base was the first challenge for the A400M crew, due to limited size of its runway.
´With a width of only 24 metres, this runway, which is particularly narrow, represents a challenge for the manoeuvrability of the A400M. This required a great deal of mastery and technical expertise to make a half-turn on the runway´, said Adjutant (warrant officer) Loïc, the A400M flight engineer.
Then, as any aircraft of such size had never operated from Maripasuola runway before, the Atlas aeroplane was maximally lightened, due to concerns related to strength of the airstrip.
´Today, we made the first empty flight of the A400M to conduct a test with a view to transporting cargo to the local population if needed in the future´, stated Captain Yann, the mission commander and the Atlas pilot.
It should be noted here that, since 2023, French Guiana – an overseas department of France located in the northern part of South America, between Suriname and Brazil – is suffering from extreme drought.
In response to this situation, the ORSEC emergency plan was activated, and, on 31st October 2024, the French authorities announced an airlift operation to begin in the region. The mission is being jointly executed by Armée de l’air et de l’espace and FAG, and is aimed to supply food and fuel to communities located in the French Guiana region, as well as provide necessary support to isolated settlements (more information about the ORSEC plan and airlift operation in French Guiana can be found in our article – ORSEC operation in French Guiana).
The aforementioned airlift operation is, in large part, performed by CASA CN-235 cargo aircraft, assigned to l’escadron de transport 00.068 (the transport squadron 00.068) ´Antilles-Guyane´ from BA 367.
According to the official release of the French Ministry of Defence, the CASA aircraft performed more than one hundred missions and carried approximately three hundred tonnes of water, food and fuel to isolated areas of French Guiana. However, involving the A400M airlifters in such operation would significantly increase the load capacity, as the Airbus aircraft is able to carry between twenty-five and thirty tonnes of cargo during a single mission.
Taking into consideration the latest weather phenomena, such as Irma, Belal and Chido cyclones, the French authorities are strongly interested in providing rapid and effective response to support local communities and ensure their safety.
The successful A400M mission to French Guiana was an important step in the government programme focused on increasing the capability of humanitarian aid in the overseas areas, if necessary.
All photos © Etat-major des armées / French Ministry of Defence. Information from the press releases of the French Ministry of Defence – published on the MoD page in January of 2025 – were used, in accordance to the etalab-2.0 licence.
