Grizzly 4 retires at Bremen

On 10 November 2022, one of the Airbus A400M prototypes retired at Bremen Airport (Germany). The transporter, registration EC-404 (MSN 4), also known as 'Grizzly 4', flew its final flight from the Airbus Defence and Space assembly line at Sevilla-San Pablo (Spain) to Bremen, where it arrived 14:35 hrs LT.

According to Airbus, the aircraft will get a new coat of paint before being placed at its final location next to the Bremen Airport.

A400M EC-404 made its first flight on 20 December 2010. With more than 2,000 flight hours, 1,000 flights and many missions and campaigns completed, the Airbus prototype number 4, is retired after nearly twelve years of pushing boundaries to develop A400M capabilities to its maximum.

The aircraft has been a key asset in the development and certification of the Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) capability. Not only as a receiver, but also in certifying pods to refuel F/A-18 Hornets and the hose drum unit in the cargo bay for refuelling Hornets and A400M receivers, and recently the Helicopter Aerial Refuelling capabilities with the H225M Caracal.

Assembly of the first A400M began at the Seville plant of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) in early 2007. Major assemblies built at other facilities abroad were brought to the Seville facility by Airbus Beluga transporters. In February 2008, four Europrop TP400-D6 flight test engines were delivered for the first A400M. Static structural testing of a test airframe began on 12 March 2008 in Spain. By 2010, Airbus planned to manufacture thirty aircraft per year. The Turkish partner, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), delivered the first A400M component to Bremen in 2007.

Photo by Dietmar Fenners (Scramble Archive)