The Transall C-160 will be retired from the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) by the end of this year and the tasks will be taken over by the A400M from Air Transport Wing 62 (Lufttransportgeschwader 62) in Wunstorf. The C-160 remains in service more than 50 years after the type’s first flight in 1963. It has provided logistical support to overseas operations and has served in specialist roles such as an aerial refueling tanker, electronic intelligence gathering, and as a communications platform. It will be decommissioned at the end of 2021.
Airbus handed over the last overhauled C-160 Transall to the German Air Force (Luftwaffe). And for that occasion German Air Force painted a special livery which paid a visit to Airbus military servicing centre in Manching. In 2015, it was announced that the retirement of Germany’s Transall fleet had been pushed back from 2018 to 2021 due to delays with the Airbus A400M; until 2021, a decreasing number of aircraft shall remain in service to perform missions that require the Transall’s self-protection suite.
The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. “Transall” is an abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of MBB, Aerospatiale, and VFW-Fokker. It was initially developed to meet the requirements for a modern transport aircraft for the French and German Air Forces; export sales were also made to South Africa and to Turkey, as well as a small number to civilian operators. The C-160 is expected to be replaced in French and German service by the Airbus A400M Atlas.
The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. “Transall” is an abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of MBB, Aerospatiale, and VFW-Fokker. It was initially developed to meet the requirements for a modern transport aircraft for the French and German Air Forces; export sales were also made to South Africa and to Turkey, as well as a small number to civilian operators. The C-160 remains in service more than 50 years after the type’s first flight in 1963.
