PARIS — Spain has ordered 16 Airbus C295 aircraft in maritime patrol and surveillance configurations for €1.7 billion (U.S. $1.9 billion), Airbus announced Wednesday.
Six maritime patrol variants will come equipped for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare missions, replacing the Spanish P-3 Orion fleet that retired at the top of 2022, Airbus said. Equipment for every of those aircraft features a magnetic anomaly detector and sonobuoys for submarine detection; a multimode radar for long-range goal detection; and satellite communications technology.
These aircraft may even carry weapons, including torpedoes, and can be “highly connected” so that they can operate as flying command-and-control centers, in response to the French company.
The remaining 10 C295 aircraft within the maritime surveillance configuration are to exchange Spain’s aging CN-235 fleet, which entered operations in 1988, in response to the Air Force.
Airbus will equip the brand new planes for anti-smuggling, anti-illegal migration and anti-drug trafficking operations, in addition to search and rescue missions, the firm said.
Spain already operates a fleet of 13 C295 aircraft in a transport configuration, and the 2 maritime versions can have a high degree of synergy, the manufacturer said.
Assembly will happen on the Airbus military facilities in Seville, Spain. The country expects to receive the primary C295 within the maritime patrol configuration in 2027; the primary surveillance configuration the yr after; and delivery of the ultimate aircraft in 2031. CASA, a predecessor company of Airbus, designed and first manufactured the C295.
The contract includes training systems, comparable to a full flight simulator, as well an initial logistics support package, Airbus said. The federal government approved the budget to purchase the C295 aircraft in June and signed off on the contract in September.
The C295 has been an export success for Airbus in Spain, with total orders for 283 planes at the top of November, of which 216 were delivered to this point. The corporate in September handed over the primary of 56 C295 aircraft ordered by the Indian Air Force.
The aircraft is powered by two Pratt & Whitney turboprops and has a maximum takeoff weight of 23 metric tons. The armed maritime patrol version can operate for 2 and a half hours at a distance of 800 nautical miles from takeoff, and 6 and a half hours at a distance of 400 nautical miles, in response to Airbus.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He began his profession at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.