[3] By May 2002, Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) announced a proposal involving a 12,000 shp (8,900 kW) turboprop with a core based on its PW800 turbofan,[4] a 53–89-kilonewton (5,400–9,100-kilogram-force; 12,000–20,000-pound-force) regional jet engine under development that had a geared fan at the time;[5] the concept would later be called the PW180.

[4] In 2003, around the 30 April decision deadline, Airbus Chief Executive Noel Forgeard told reporters that the P&WC proposal was 20 percent cheaper than for the TP400, and that he would have chosen to give the contract to P&WC, but government officials requested an extension for the companies to revise their bids.

Before the final bids were modified, sources claimed that P&WC's offering, which had a European production percentage of 75 percent, was lower by USD$400 million.

[7] A member of Europrop claimed after the decision that the TP400 contract would only increase the costs of the USD$22.7 billion A400M program by about 1–2 percent compared to if the PW180 had been selected.

At the 2003 Paris Air Show, Europrop signed a 300 million euro contract with former engine consortium partner Avio to supply the gearboxes.

[8] In July/August 2003, Airbus signed a contract worth up to USD$830 million with Ratier-Figeac to supply the propellers, which would be 5.33 meters (17.5 feet) in diameter and have eight composite blades.

[18] In June 2008, the TP400 had a first ground run on the inboard port wing of the C-130K engine testbed, and integration was completed onto the first A400M production aircraft.

[19] After 24 hours of ground runs and taxi trials, the first flight of a single TP400-D6 engine took place on 17 December 2008.

[23] By April 2012, EASA certified Ratier-Figeac's FH385/FH386 propellers for the TP400,[24] and on 13 March 2013 it granted a type certificate for the A400M aircraft.

More specifically, Europrop determined in mid-2008 that the engine worked correctly, but the FADEC software still did not meet EASA requirements.

It showed abnormal wear and inadequate management of the heat generated in the reduction gearing which required premature servicing.

[32] The gearbox issues persisted, and as of July 2018, the final fix was planned to be introduced by the end of that year.

To drive the HPC, Snecma designed the high pressure turbine (HPT), also using M88 experience.

Reduction occurs in two stages: a first-stage offset design, followed by a second-stage planetary system.

The reversible, variable-pitch propeller holds eight blades, each having a carbon spar enclosed by a composite shell and a polyurethane coating.