{"id":31774694,"date":"2026-11-08T11:06:25","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T10:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/transall-c-160-franco-german-tactical-airlifter-history-retirement\/"},"modified":"2026-11-08T11:15:06","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T10:15:06","slug":"transall-c-160-franco-german-tactical-airlifter-history-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/transall-c-160-franco-german-tactical-airlifter-history-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Transall C-160: The Franco-German Airlifter That Flew 60 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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Thirty-four days later, on 25 February 1963, a twin-turboprop transport rolled down the runway at Melun-Villaroche and lifted off. It was French and German in equal measure, and its name said so.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/transall-c-160\/\">Transall C-160<\/a>, short for <em>Transporter Allianz<\/em>, would haul troops, vehicles and aid for the French and German air forces for more than half a century. It dropped paratroopers in Africa, carried electronic spies over the Baltic, and became one of the first true products of Franco-German aerospace cooperation, the seed of what later became Airbus.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Type:<\/strong> Transall C-160, twin-turboprop tactical transport<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Builders:<\/strong> Nord-Aviation, VFW and HFB (later A\u00e9rospatiale and MBB)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First flight:<\/strong> 25 February 1963, Melun-Villaroche<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Engines:<\/strong> Two Rolls-Royce Tyne turboprops<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Production:<\/strong> 169 first generation per Airbus (incl. 3 prototypes, 6 pre-production), 9 C-160Z for South Africa, C-160NG from 1981<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Main users:<\/strong> France (C-160F\/NG), West Germany (C-160D), Turkey, South Africa<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Retired:<\/strong> Germany December 2021; France April 2022; Turkey reported March 2026<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Replaced by:<\/strong> Airbus A400M and C-130J<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Replacing the Noratlas<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The story begins in the late 1950s. France and West Germany both flew the piston-engined <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/nord-noratlas\/\">Nord Noratlas<\/a>, and both needed something better. According to Airbus, Nord-Aviation proposed a new cargo aircraft in 1957, but French needs alone could not make the programme viable. Germany came in as a partner.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Three companies were chosen to design and build it: Nord-Aviation in France and Weser Flugzeugbau (VFW) and Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB) in Germany. The engines would be Rolls-Royce Tynes, and final assembly lines were set up in Bourges, Bremen and Hamburg. Each partner built one prototype; the first, from Nord, flew on 25 February 1963.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;Robust and reliable, the Transall has been involved in all military and humanitarian operations from the 1970s to 2020.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Airbus<\/strong> &mdash; &ldquo;The Transall turns 60&rdquo;, Airbus newsroom, February 2023<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Lockheed tried hard to sell Germany the C-130 Hercules instead, but in September 1964 a contract was signed for 160 production aircraft: 110 C-160Ds for the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/german-air-force\/\">Luftwaffe<\/a> and 50 C-160Fs for the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/french-air-and-space-force\/\">French Air Force<\/a>. The first was delivered to France on 22 November 1967, with Germany following in April 1968.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/transall-c-160-cargo-ramp-mfo-jeep-el-gorah-1983.jpg\" alt=\"A Multinational Force and Observers military police Jeep driving up the rear ramp into a French Air Force C-160 Transall in Sinai in 1983\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Multinational Force and Observers military police Jeep drives up the ramp into a French Air Force C-160 at El Gorah, northern Sinai, in 1983. Photo: Evdpnl \/ CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Built for rough strips<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The C-160 was a classic tactical airlifter: a high wing, two big turboprops, an upswept tail and a rear ramp. Its hold was sized to fit international railway loading gauges, and it could carry around 16 tonnes of cargo, 93 troops or up to 88 paratroopers depending on the configuration.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It had a clever trick on the ground. The landing gear could be partly retracted to lower the fuselage, so vehicles drove straight into the hold without climbing a steep ramp. Combined with steep approaches and short landing runs on rough strips, that made the Transall at home on the kind of airfields the Hercules was also built for, with only two engines to maintain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UQUO4PWUscM\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Technik Museen Sinsheim Speyer takes viewers inside one of their preserved Transalls, cargo hold and cockpit included.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A second generation<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The first production run ended in the early 1970s. Airbus puts the first-generation total at 169 aircraft, counting three prototypes, six pre-production machines and 160 production aircraft for France and Germany. South Africa also received nine C-160Zs, and in 1971 Germany passed 20 of its aircraft to the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/turkish-air-force\/\">Turkish Air Force<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Then France wanted more. A New Generation Transall, the C-160NG, was built on a single assembly line in Toulouse, with modern avionics, an in-flight refuelling probe and extra fuel in the wing centre section. It first flew on 9 April 1981. Some NGs became tankers, four became C-160H Astart\u00e9 relay aircraft for communicating with France&rsquo;s submerged nuclear submarines, and two became C-160G Gabriel signals-intelligence aircraft.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Not every Transall wore uniform. Four French C-160Fs were converted into C-160P mail carriers and flown at night for the French postal service, and a pre-production aircraft was leased to the International Committee of the Red Cross at the end of the 1960s. Plans for a stretched civil airliner version and a four-engined Transall never left the drawing board.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/transall-c-160-armee-de-l-air-bastille-day-2009.jpg\" alt=\"Underside view of a French Air Force C-160 Transall with Armee de l Air under the wings flying over Paris on Bastille Day 2009\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A French Air Force C-160 Transall passes overhead during the Bastille Day flypast of 2009. Photo: Dimitri Torterat \/ CC BY 2.0 FR, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Everywhere from Kolwezi to Kabul<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Its twin-engine layout was a deliberate choice. Two big Tynes instead of four smaller engines meant lower purchase cost, less weight and fuel burn, and a simpler, more reliable aircraft, while the rugged structure absorbed decades of upgrades. By 1999 some 2,000 modifications had been incorporated, from GPS navigation to missile warning systems and Kevlar armour.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Transall worked hard. According to Wikipedia, Turkish C-160Ds carried troops and dropped paratroopers during the 1974 invasion of Cyprus, and in 1978 French C-160s dropped Foreign Legion paratroopers into Kolwezi in Zaire. South African aircraft supplied troops in the Border War, and German Transalls supported missions from Sudan to Afghanistan. In 2013, French and German C-160s flew side by side in support of Operation Serval, the French-led intervention in Mali, fifty years after the first prototype took off.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>For France, the C-160 was the backbone of military airlift and of support to its bases in Africa for decades. In Airbus&rsquo;s words, it took part in essentially every military and humanitarian operation from the 1970s to 2020.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;Ich werde all die letzten Fl\u00fcge sehr genie\u00dfen&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Oberst Markus Kleinbauer<\/strong> &mdash; Commodore of Lufttransportgeschwader 63, on the Transall&rsquo;s final year (Bundeswehr, March 2021). In English: &ldquo;I will really enjoy all the last flights.&rdquo;<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The Gabriel was especially prized. Until their retirement, the two signals-intelligence Transalls could still be seen supporting NATO surveillance over the Black and Baltic Seas. Their loss left a gap that France is filling with the Falcon 8X-based Archange.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;Although France has other intelligence capabilities of electromagnetic origin, the C160 Gabriel provided a specific capability, to which satellites or drones cannot be substituted&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Jean-Jacques Ferrara<\/strong> &mdash; French member of parliament, in a parliamentary report quoted by AeroTime (2022)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The long goodbye<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The Airbus <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/a400m-atlas\/\">A400M Atlas<\/a> was supposed to replace the Transall by 2018, and its delays kept the old aircraft flying. Germany&rsquo;s Lufttransportgeschwader 63 at Hohn was the last Luftwaffe unit to fly it, and its final Transall flights came in mid-December 2021, after a year of farewell tours around Germany. The A400M and a new Franco-German <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/c-130-hercules\/\">C-130J<\/a> squadron at \u00c9vreux took over.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jZ3zAJ_Tk_M\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">The last flight of a C-160 Transall of Lufttransportgeschwader 63, filmed on 14 December 2021.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>France followed a few months later. After a farewell tour in a special livery, the last flight of a C-160 in French colours took place on 3 April 2022, according to Airbus, and aircraft 212 went to the Aeroscopia museum at Blagnac, near the Toulouse factory where it was built.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/transall-c-160d-turkish-air-force-turkish-stars-riat-2008.jpg\" alt=\"Turkish Air Force Transall C-160D 69-033 in white and red Turkish Stars colours landing at RAF Fairford in 2008\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Turkish Air Force C-160D 69-033, wearing the colours of the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/display-teams\/turkish-stars\/\">Turkish Stars<\/a> display team it supported, landing at the 2008 Royal International Air Tattoo. Turkey flew the last military Transalls. Photo: Adrian Pingstone \/ public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Turkey kept the type flying longest. Airbus counted two C-160s still in Turkish service in 2023, and Wikipedia records the type&rsquo;s formal Turkish retirement at Kayseri in March 2026. Even that may not be the end: ex-Luftwaffe airframes have been bought by an Australian company that plans to turn them into water bombers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PpbXEEGHjQM\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">A French farewell formation: the C-160 flying with the A400M, C-130 and CN235 that inherited its work.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Sixty years is a long life for any military aircraft. For one born in the same spring as the \u00c9lys\u00e9e Treaty, it is fitting that the Transall&rsquo;s European story ends with an aircraft built by the company it helped create.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Airbus (The Transall turns 60), Bundeswehr, AeroTime, Shephard Media, Wikipedia (Transall C-160)<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What is the Transall C-160?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Transall C-160 is a twin-turboprop tactical transport aircraft developed jointly by France and West Germany. Transall stands for Transporter Allianz, the consortium of Nord-Aviation, VFW and HFB. Powered by two Rolls-Royce Tyne engines, it could carry around 16 tonnes of cargo or up to 93 troops.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When did the Transall C-160 first fly?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The first Transall C-160 prototype, built by Nord-Aviation, flew at Melun-Villaroche on 25 February 1963, a month after France and Germany signed the \u00c9lys\u00e9e Treaty. The first production aircraft was delivered to the French Air Force on 22 November 1967 and to the Luftwaffe in April 1968.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many Transall C-160s were built?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Airbus puts the first-generation Transall total at 169 aircraft, including three prototypes, six pre-production aircraft and 160 production aircraft for France and Germany. South Africa also received nine C-160Zs. France later ordered the C-160NG second generation, which first flew on 9 April 1981 and was assembled in Toulouse.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When was the Transall retired?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Germany&rsquo;s last Transall unit, Lufttransportgeschwader 63 at Hohn, flew its final C-160 sorties in mid-December 2021. The last flight of a French Transall took place on 3 April 2022, according to Airbus. Turkey kept the type longest, with its formal retirement reported in March 2026.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What replaced the Transall C-160?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Airbus A400M Atlas replaced the Transall in French and German service, with help from a joint Franco-German C-130J squadron at \u00c9vreux. In France, the C-160G Gabriel signals-intelligence role passes to the Falcon 8X-based Archange.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was the C-160G Gabriel?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The C-160G Gabriel was a signals-intelligence version of the Transall, with two aircraft converted for the French Air Force. They supported NATO surveillance over the Black and Baltic Seas until France retired them with the rest of its Transall fleet, and their role is being taken over by the Archange programme.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the Transall C-160?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Transall C-160 is a twin-turboprop tactical transport aircraft developed jointly by France and West Germany. Transall stands for Transporter Allianz, the consortium of Nord-Aviation, VFW and HFB. Powered by two Rolls-Royce Tyne engines, it could carry around 16 tonnes of cargo or up to 93 troops.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When did the Transall C-160 first fly?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The first Transall C-160 prototype, built by Nord-Aviation, flew at Melun-Villaroche on 25 February 1963, a month after France and Germany signed the \u00c9lys\u00e9e Treaty. The first production aircraft was delivered to the French Air Force on 22 November 1967 and to the Luftwaffe in April 1968.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many Transall C-160s were built?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Airbus puts the first-generation Transall total at 169 aircraft, including three prototypes, six pre-production aircraft and 160 production aircraft for France and Germany. South Africa also received nine C-160Zs. France later ordered the C-160NG second generation, which first flew on 9 April 1981 and was assembled in Toulouse.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When was the Transall retired?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Germany\u2019s last Transall unit, Lufttransportgeschwader 63 at Hohn, flew its final C-160 sorties in mid-December 2021. The last flight of a French Transall took place on 3 April 2022, according to Airbus. Turkey kept the type longest, with its formal retirement reported in March 2026.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What replaced the Transall C-160?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Airbus A400M Atlas replaced the Transall in French and German service, with help from a joint Franco-German C-130J squadron at \u00c9vreux. In France, the C-160G Gabriel signals-intelligence role passes to the Falcon 8X-based Archange.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the C-160G Gabriel?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The C-160G Gabriel was a signals-intelligence version of the Transall, with two aircraft converted for the French Air Force. They supported NATO surveillance over the Black and Baltic Seas until France retired them with the rest of its Transall fleet, and their role is being taken over by the Archange programme.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/the-a400m-atlas\/\">The Airbus A400M Atlas<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/kc-390-vs-c-130j-vs-a400m-tactical-airlifter-comparison\/\">KC-390 vs C-130J vs A400M: What the Makers Actually Publish<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/archange-falcon-8x-sigint-aircraft-evreux-ba-105-evaluation-2026\/\">Archange: France&rsquo;s Falcon 8X Spy Jet Arrives at \u00c9vreux for Evaluation<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/france-a400m-atlas-first-firefighting-drop-gironde-2026\/\">France&rsquo;s Biggest Airlifter Turns Water Bomber<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Transall C-160 first flew on 25 February 1963 and served France and Germany for nearly 60 years, from Kolwezi to Afghanistan, before the A400M took over.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":31774559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31774694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Transall C-160: The Franco-German Airlifter | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta 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