France to buy Airbus Defence & Space firefighting kit for A400M

France's Minister of Armed Forces Catherine Vautrin announced the purchase of a firefighting kit for the A400M transport aircraft.

The kit, available since 2022, includes a large tank and a drop ramp that can be installed in minutes on any A400M, and the French A400M performed six water drops on 25‑27 July during the Saumos fire in Gironde using its 20,000‑litre tank, which was refilled multiple times per day from the Istres base; Airbus Defence & Space will soon start producing several kits in Spain and Spain could follow France's example.