Spain orders new C295s
The Spanish government has placed an order for a fleet of 16 Airbus C295 fixed-wing aircraft
The resulting €1.695 billion contract, signed on 20 December, covers the delivery of the aircraft, initial logistics support, and training systems.
The aircraft will be delivered in two configurations – 10 aircraft will be in a maritime surveillance/search and rescue (SAR) format, while the remaining six will be the maritime patrol variant.
All 16 new aircraft will join the Spanish Air Force’s (EdA) existing fleet of 13 C295s, boosting the total size of its fleet to 29 planes. They will close a ‘capability gap’ left by the retirement of the Lockheed P-3 at the end of 2022.
The 10 maritime surveillance/SAR aircraft will replace an existing fleet of EdA CN235s currently used to perform anti-smuggling, anti-drug-trafficking, and national and international SAR missions.
The other six planes will be used to conduct maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare missions.
No delivery schedule has been confirmed yet for the new C295s.
Airbus delivered the first of a batch of 56 C295s to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in September.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.