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Beyond their pure military role, tactical transport aircrafts are also key assets for a better civil defence/protection and EU-internal needs, with critical contribution to disaster relief, search-and-rescue and sanitary crises response. Beside the A400M, which is on the high-performance side of the capacity, the initial conception of the majority of currently operating tactical aircraft (C130, C-295, C27J…) is now 40 years old, and there is a need for a new medium tactical European aircraft, lighter than the A400M that could provide a complementary capacity for tactical transport.

Currently, some EU Member States are operating medium payload tactical military transport aircrafts within their fleet, which can be replaced with growing capabilities, able to cope with the envisaged operational challenges. The Future Mid-size Tactical Cargo aircraft (FMTC) feasibility study proposal for EDF 2022 addresses this coming strategic gap within the European transport portfolio. FMTC proposes a cooperative analysis of the transport aircraft replacement needs on the 2030-2050 horizon and the identification of European development opportunities, among the EDF participating Member States and associated countries.

This topic is an opportunity for Europe to federate efforts by providing the EU defence community (nations and industry) with robust elements to decide what the 2035+ future of EU military tactical transport could be.