New Ramp Means Beluga Can Load Itself Up and Go

New Ramp Means Beluga Can Load Itself Up and Go

Airbus with autonomy: an Apache on Beluga's new ramp.

ILA 2000: A prototype on-board loading ramp is currently being built at Airbus Transport International (ATI), Airbus Industrie's wholly-owned transport subsidiary specializing in outsize cargo. The new mostly carbon fiber ramp will allow, for the first time ever, the speedy loading of even the largest military helicopters onto and off the A300-600ST Super Transporter -- or "Beluga" -- without having to remove the rotor blades.

The six-ton ramp will provide complete autonomy, since a single individual can deploy it in under 20 minutes, using the aircraft's own power drive unit. No other aircraft in the world can provide same-day transportation of two fully-equipped Chinook military transport helicopters from, say, London to Nicaragua.

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