See inside the Airbus A400M Atlas military plane made famous by Tom Cruise that can carry helicopters and land on beaches

• The Airbus A400M Atlas is a military aircraft featured in a Tom Cruise stunt.
• The UK's Royal Air Force has used it to send humanitarian aid to Gaza and evacuate civilians from Kabul.
• The versatile aircraft can also transport helicopters, land on beaches, and refuel in the air.

The Airbus A400M Atlas is a military aircraft used by 10 countries, mostly in Europe.

A versatile airlifter, it competes with Lockheed Martin's C-130J Super Hercules .

For some the Atlas might be most recognizable as the plane Tom Cruise hangs off during a stunt in "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation."

However, there is much more to it than that. The A400M can transport helicopters or more than 200 people, as in the 2021 Kabul evacuation. It can land on beaches or short runways and, thanks to air-to-air refueling, fly across the world.

At July's Farnborough Airshow , Business Insider had the chance to learn more about the A400M with a tour led by a pilot from the UK's Royal Air Force.

An Airbus A400M operated by the UK's Royal Air Force was on display at the Farnborough Airshow.

The heavy airlifter has received 178 orders from 10 nations. Germany's 53 orders top the list, followed by France's 50. The UK and Spain have also ordered more than 20.

It's the same type of plane that Tom Cruise hung off during a fearsome stunt for "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation."

In the scene , Cruise's character jumps onto the plane as it's taking off and hangs on to the side. He then gets inside in midair before parachuting away while attached to the antagonists' shipment of nerve gas.

"I was responsible for what happened if he got hit by a bird — it was pretty nerve-racking," the film's director, Christopher McQuarrie, told USA Today.

The RAF has used it for missions like sending humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

From Cyprus, it flew 11 missions and dropped a total of about 110 metric tons of aid to civilians in Gaza.

The RAF also used the A400M during the 2021 Kabul evacuation .

It's also capable of air-to-air refueling and fighting fires.

The A400M is not only capable of refueling other jets, but also being refueled itself.

Lawrence Sutton, a flight lieutenant in the RAF and an A400M pilot, told reporters that on one mission, the aircraft flew 20 hours over the Arctic from England to Guam.

"Fundamentally, your classic limit, which is fuel, stops being a problem," he said. "This took a route that should be potentially two days, minimum probably three, down to one day to deliver on an exercise."

With a 20-metric-ton payload, the A400M can fly 3,450 nautical miles.

By contrast, the C130-J Super Hercules favored by the US Air Force can only do 1,800 nautical miles with a payload of 15 metric tons.

Stepping on board, I was taken aback by the sheer size of the Atlas.

The A400M can transport helicopters like the Chinook, Puma, and Wildcat.

Fitting these aircraft inside requires less dismantling than on the C-130J. For example, for an A400M, only the Puma's rotor blades need to be taken off.

It can transport a payload of up to 37 metric tons and has a volume of 12,000 cubic feet.

It's versatile and can carry nine pallets of cargo along with 54 passengers.

The floor has rails and rollers to move cargo, and tie-down rings to secure payloads.

We were specifically warned not to step on the rollers because they're designed to send payloads out the back of the plane.

Seats are attached to the sides of the plane.

In situations like Operation Pitting, the 2021 Kabul evacuation, far more people can be carried.

During Operation Pitting, 3,538 people were evacuated in 30 successful missions — a maximum of 218 in one flight.

Sutton said that the military would attach straps normally used for cargo across evacuees' laps to give some form of protection.

"They will be taken out in relative comfort," he added. "It's not British Airways at that point, but they get out."

Underneath the cockpit at the front of the plane is the loadmaster's station.

The loadmaster is in charge of loading and unloading cargo, and their job involves calculations to keep the aircraft within its center-of-gravity limits.

For me, the highlight of the tour was seeing the flight deck upstairs.

Technology here includes a heads-up display and fly-by-wire controls.

Fly-by-wire replaces mechanical flight controls with computer-controlled systems to process the pilots' input. It's considered safer because there are fewer points of failure, plus it's easier to fix.

FBW is also used in Airbus' commercial jets .

Flt Lt Lawrence Sutton praised the flying experience of the A400M.

"The aircraft makes it easy," he said. "All pilots have to do is think about the mission, not the flying, which is a beautiful thing."

"You can take this jet fast or you can take it low; you can be tactical with it," he added. "We prefer it that way. It's safer for us to be down doing that kind of work, and it's just a pleasure to fly."

The A400M has 12 landing gears that provide huge capabilities.

"The stopping power of this aircraft, at weight , is incredible, and it allows that safety, the risk mitigation , and the delivery of whatever it is the commanders need , into whatever theatre it needs to go," Sutton said.

These allow the plane to land on worn-out runways or even beaches.

The RAF conducts training drills at Pembrey Sands in Wales.

"We close it off to the public, the tide goes out, and that is where the aircraft lands," Sutton said. "That is a soft surface with an aircraft that is potentially up to 123 [metric tons] in weight. We don't train at that, but we are capable of that."

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