Paris 2011: Airbus A400M Will Soon Be the Atlas

According to the latest speculation, the A400M will soon gain an official name: Atlas. Not a bad choice for a heavy airlifter, although references to Greek mythology invariably suffer from conflicting and sometimes mischievous interpretations.

At the Farnborough airshow last July, the name Grizzly was unveiled with due fanfare. The image-makers carefully explained that this was an interim moniker, applicable only to the flight-test airplanes. But reaction from observers and at least one customer was, shall we say, “Bearish.”

So now, as befits a multinational program, Europe’s new military airlifter will gain a name that works in various languages.