A huge military aircraft was spotted flying low over Kent.

The Atlas A400M – which can carry a whopping 37-tonne – is based in Oxfordshire but was spotted doing training near Sandwich.

It was spotted flying low over Eastry yesterday at about 11.30am.

A Royal Air Force spokesperson said: “The aircraft in question was Atlas A400M, which is based at RAF Brize Norton.

“The aircraft was conducting routine training.”

The RAF says the Atlas entered operational service in 2014 and provides tactical airlift and strategic oversize lift capabilities complementing the C-17 fleet.

It can carry a 37-tonne payload more than 2,000 nautical miles to established and remote civilian and military airfields, and short unprepared or semi-prepared strips.

Atlas is also capable of operating at altitudes up to 40,000ft and also offers impressive low-level capability.

The RAF says it will accommodate as many as 116 fully-equipped troops; vehicles; helicopters, including a Chinook; mixed loads, including nine aircraft pallets and 54 passengers, or combinations of vehicles, pallets and personnel, up to a payload of 37 tonnes.

Loads are delivered by parachute, gravity extraction from the aircraft’s rear ramp, or by landing.

Paratroops will be dropped from the aircraft’s dedicated paratroop doors or from the rear ramp.

Atlas is operated by two pilots and a weapons systems operator.