The French air force has announced achieving full operational capability (FOC) status with its Airbus Defence & Space A400M tactical transports.

Announced during the Paris air show on 19 June, the milestone declaration comes 10 years after the service became the first to receive a production example of the four-engined type.

Noting that the FOC definition covers the availability of “aircraft… crews, maintenance, training and infrastructure”, Airbus’s defence unit says the final certification item required concerned the “ability to drop a special forces boat for the French navy commandos”. This was achieved during testing in February 2025, it adds.

Airbus says its French customer has now taken delivery of 24 A400Ms, against an order for 50 of the aircraft.

“With today’s announcement, the French A400M fleet steps firmly into the future, reaffirming its status as the strategic and tactical backbone of one of the world’s most demanding and prominent air forces,” the airframer states.

Among operational highlights mentioned by the company, the service has proven the airlifter’s ability to perform “precision landings on short, unprepared runways”, including during a 2022 deployment to French Polynesia.

More recently, France used the A400M to deliver emergency personnel and relief supplies to Mayotte, northern Mozambique, in the wake of a tropical cyclone last December.