Transall C-160

The Transall C-160 is a twin-engine tactical military transport aircraft produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. Transall is a German abbreviation of Transporter Allianz, the consortium formed in January 1959 by the French company Nord Aviation and the German companies Weser Flugzeugbau and Hamburger Flugzeugbau to design and build it. The first prototype made its maiden flight on 25 February 1963, and the first production aircraft were delivered to France and Germany from 1967, in a first batch of 110 for the German Air Force, 50 for the French Air Force and nine for the South African Air Force. It has a cargo hold, a rear-access ramp beneath an upswept tail, a high-mounted wing and turboprop engines. Roles later included aerial refuelling tanker, electronic intelligence gathering and communications platform. Germany, France and South Africa ordered Airbus A400M aircraft to replace it, and the last German Transall wing was disbanded in December 2021.