Britain and France have jointly contracted maintenance and support services from Airbus Defense and Space for their new A400M Atlas transport aircraft.

The contract covers all areas of maintenance. Establishment of maintenance engineering services for the air forces of both countries and the pooling of spare parts will be implemented.

"The signature of this joint contract for the support of the A400M Atlas fleet is the achievement of successful British-French discussions over a number of years, and is an important milestone of increasing mutual collaboration at the heart of agreements made under the Lancaster House Treaty for defense and security cooperation," said British Defense Minister Philip Dunne.

"The joint support contract is another example of cooperation across a truly multinational program that will see 170 A400M aircraft delivered to 7 partner nations over the coming years."

The A400M by Airbus is a turbo-prop airlifter for hauling of cargo and personnel, aerial surveillance and aerial refueling. It has a capacity of 81,600 pounds and a range of more than 2,400 miles while carrying a 30-ton payload.

Partner nations in the A400M program -- Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, Britain, Turkey -- have so far ordered 170 of the planes. France currently has five of the airlifters while Britain's Royal Air Force has received one.

"We are proud to be able to implement this innovative support solution, which provides a solid foundation for the A400M Atlas entry into service," said Airbus Defense and Space Executive Vice President of Military Aircraft Domingo Urena Raso.

"It will enable us to deploy best commercial practice in support of an aircraft that we confidently expect will set new standards in reliability, maintainability and availability."

The contract was awarded to Airbus DS by the Britain's procurement agency, Defense Equipment & Support, and the French Direction generale de l'armement, or DGA, through OCCAR, an EU international program management organization.