Jaw-dropping pictures show a firefighting airplane prototype dropping 20,000 litres of bright red retardant.

Airbus Defence and Space recently conducted a new flight-test campaign of the A400M Roll-on/Roll-off firefighting prototype kit.

Over a period of two weeks, the A400M carried out a ground and flight-test campaign in south-western and central Spain, including six drops, three of which used the red-coloured retardant and three using water. It saw the retardant creating high concentration lines over 400 metres long.

“We have tested a new version of the kit, improving dropping efficiency and reducing discharge time by over 30% compared to last year, while combined with rapid deployment and easy installation on the A400M aircraft,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus Defence and Space. “We continue to pioneer new solutions and capabilities for our A400M fleet, in this case protecting populations and natural environments from fires.”

Colourants are added to make fire retardant visible, so pilots can see where earlier drops were made and accurately aim subsequent drops to help connect or reinforce retardant lines.

Airbus say this roll-on/roll-off kit does not require any modification to the aircraft and, therefore, is interchangeable to any aircraft in the A400M fleet.

The water or retardant is stored in a tank in the cargo hold of the aircraft and, by using a mechanical lever, a door is opened to allow the liquid to flow out of the aircraft by gravity means through a discharge pipe.

The current design of the prototype is capable of dropping 20,000 litres in a single discharge.

The tanks can be filled in less than ten minutes using standard high-pressure pumps on ground.

Airbus say: "During the campaign, the 43rd Firefighting Squadron of the Spanish Air Force has been involved as technical advisors and assuring that this capability in the A400M has operational value for any potential operator."