On Friday 12 January, the Belgian Air Force took delivery of its seventh and last Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft, bringing the Belgian-Luxembourg bi-national unit operating out of Melsbroek air base up to full strength of eight aircraft.

The A400M, equipped with four powerful turbofan engines, offers a payload capacity 1.5 times greater than that of a C-130, with greater range and significantly higher speed.

The CT-08 its first operational mission was on Saturday 13 January.

Photo Rob Vogelaar