The Luftwaffe is equipping 23 A400Ms with DIRCM systems, supplied by Elbit Systems, to conduct tactical operation in scenarios with MANPADS threat.
The first of the German Air Force’s (Luftwaffe) A400M airlifters has been retrofitted with DIRCM (Directed InfraRed Counter-Measure) protection systems and handed back to the service, announced Airbus on Sep. 11, 2025. The integration work was conducted by Airbus Defence at its facility in Seville, Spain.
This comes a little over four months after Airbus was contracted by the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) to equip 23 of A400Ms with the system. DIRCM protects aircraft against anti-air missiles that rely on infrared detection, countering them by using directed energy to disrupt the missile’s seeker head.
At the time of the contract award, the DIRCM system was already being put through its paces on a German A400M at Airbus’ facility in Seville, said the company in a Jun. 6 press release. The images now show that airframe, 54+35, flying home after receiving the DIRCM system, although no statement was released by the Luftwaffe, Bundeswehr or the BAAINBw on the matter.
Germany’s @team_luftwaffe 🇩🇪 is flying home its first #A400M with a brand new DIRCM protection system! DIRCM stands for ‘Directed Infrared Counter Measures’ and protects the airlifter from missiles with infrared seekers. In all, Airbus will equip 23 German A400Ms with DIRCM… pic.twitter.com/jqW0anQdFK
— Airbus Defence (@AirbusDefence) September 11, 2025
German A400M DIRCM upgrade program
Including Seville, other Airbus facilities in Manching and Getafe will also retrofit the DIRCM system on the rest of Germany’s A400M fleet during scheduled maintenance cycles. The system is expected to be certified by summer 2025, and the entire fleet is slated to be retrofitted with the DIRCM by 2032.
Airbus says that the 23 aircraft chosen for the DIRCM are those involved in tactical operations, including medical evacuation missions in crisis areas. The logistical variant of the A400M used in standard long-range troop, heavy armoured vehicles, helicopters or specialised civil engineering equipment transport, have been excluded.
As of Dec. 2024, Germany is operating 48 out of its 53 ordered A400Ms, based at the 62nd Air Transport Wing (LTG 62) Wunstorf. In service with the Luftwaffe for over ten years, following the first delivery on Dec. 18-19, 2024, the German A400Ms logged 51,000 flight hours, with 25,000 of them since January 2022.
Germany also fully retired its C-160 Transall and disbanded the Air Transport Wing 63 in 2021 to make way for the A400M. The aircraft is the mainstay of German, British and French strategic airlift fleets. The A400M is also cleared to refuel the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, MV-22B Osprey, E/A-18G Growler and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
J-MUSIC DIRCM sensor
As it now turns out with the current A400M, the DIRCM installation is a relatively simple process that got completed in a few months, assuming the airframe (54+35) had gone in for the work a few weeks prior to when the contract was announced. We can see the DIRCM turret, a small glass dome-like structure visibly protruding outside the airframe on the front side fuselage, between the ‘Luftwaffe’ marking and the front entry door, while another turret might have been installed below the tail.
The DIRCM system, J-MUSIC – developed by Israeli company Elbit Systems, will have also required connecting it with the aircraft’s mission systems inside the cockpit and the pilot interfaces using special wiring or cabling. The certification will verify if its operation does not interfere with the aircraft’s other systems.
The project began moving when the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag approved on Jun. 4, 2025, the funds to equip 23 A400Ms with DIRCMs, according to Hartpunkt. The BAAINBw then commissioned Airbus Defence and Space “to install the systems on the aircraft as part of scheduled maintenance,” Harpunkt added.
Elbit then announced on Jul. 28, 2025 the $260 million contract award from Airbus to supply the J-MUSIC for German A400Ms, to be executed over a six-year period. The company says J-MUSIC DIRCM combines advanced laser technology with a high-frame-rate thermal imaging camera and a small, high-dynamic-range mirror turret.
An open systems architecture allows seamless integration into any aircraft type, with all types of missile warning systems and other defense equipment. Its compact form factor ensures minimal impact on aircraft performance and payload capacity.
