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2021-08-01
Versatility, Variants Keep C295 on Top
When it comes to air missions, the C295, which is a part of the Airbus Defence and Space family of light and medium airlifters that includes the earlier C212 and smaller CN235 platforms, stands out as a superior model.
Be it humanitarian actions, homeland security or environmental surveillance, the new generation C295 has proved to be an ideal aircraft for defence and missions that benefit the society.
It is fully certified and routinely operates day and night in combat missions in all weather extremes, from desert to maritime environments, from extremely hot to severely cold temperatures.
Robust and reliable, this medium-sized tactical airlifter comes with simple systems and optimal cabin, providing wide versatility, necessary for personnel, troop and bulky/palletised cargo transportation, casualty evacuation, communication and logistic duties, and air-dropping.
Its flexible design, long endurance and modern systems have made it an exceptional platform for a wide range of Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) roles, including anti-submarine and ship warfare, airborne early warning, and maritime surveillance.
Airbus Defence and Space now offers the C295, featuring as standard winglets and higher engine power ratings, giving increased performance in all flight phases and lower fuel burn.
The aircraft has a length of 24.45m, wingspan of 25.8m and a height of 8.6m.
The aircraft has received orders from military and civil operators across the globe, from Canada and Egypt to Spain and Indonesia.
Combat-proven
The combat-proven C295 routinely operates in the hot and humid environments of the Brazilian jungle and Colombian mountains, in the dusty and very hot deserts of Algeria and Jordan, and in the extremely cold winters and icy conditions of Poland and Finland.
It has been successfully used during long deployments (up to two years, flying up to 90 hours per plane per month) in remote areas, such as Chad, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Its ability to serve as an aerial tanker brings extra flexibility to this tactical transport – increasing its resourcefulness and opening new mission opportunities.
The C295 also offers special versions such as Gunship (close air support to ground troops, convoys, facilities, etc.) and optional self-protection equipment, which are already in service in hostile environments like Iraq and Afghanistan: cockpit armour, radar warning (RWR), missile warning (MAWS), laser warning (LWS), and chaff/flares dispensers.
STOL Capability
The C295’s short take-off and landing (STOL) capability combined with a strong landing gear enables it to operate in the most austere locations with the worst conditions for take-off and landings.
The C295 doubles up as a tactical military transport aircraft with a light footprint to enable operations from short (no longer than 670 m/2,200 ft), soft and rough (CBR 2) unprepared airstrips. It is designed to provide outstanding low-level flight characteristics for tactical missions, flying at speeds down to 110 knots.
New Standard in Avionics
A key to C295’s unique patrol and surveillance capabilities is its Fully Integrated Tactical System (FITS), which integrates, controls and displays the sensors – enhancing mission awareness and facilitating informed decision-making.
With the Collins Aerospace Pro Line Fusion, the C295 improves upon its strong tactical capabilities. This allows operators to fulfil their mission with maximum effectiveness.
The glass cockpit with digital avionics includes four large active matrix liquid crystal displays (6 in. x 8 in.), fully compatible with night vision goggles. The advanced integrated avionics system with multifunctional displays provides improved situational awareness and flight safety, lower pilot workload and enhanced mission effectiveness.
The system functionalities support the requirements for both civil and military tactical environments: CARP/HARP computational aids (for precision airdrops), performance management, VNAV, radio management, tactical databases, etc. The autopilot and flight director system are certified under FAR-25 requirements for ILS Cat I and Cat II approaches and GPS non-precision approaches for automatic or manual operations.
Weaponised Variants
Airbus now offers two weaponised C295 variants: the Light Weaponised Variant and the Armed ISR.
The C295 Light Weaponised variant features a kit with two manually aimed Machine Guns with lockable firing positions that are secured to the aircraft’s existing cargo rails by metal plates. This solution can be installed in any C295 with minimum aircraft modifications, and is an existing kit that can be easily incorporated adding a valuable capability.
The Light Weapons kit is already in operation with an undisclosed customer, featuring two 12.7mm light machine guns which are installed in the rear paratroop doors. To provide a more multi-role solution, this kit is also removable, giving the operators full flexibility to install them whenever needed, taking only around 30 minutes to perform the full mounting.
On the other hand, the C295 Armed ISR is a persistent ISR aircraft with precision laser-guided munitions that is fully equipped and prepared to respond in the most difficult scenarios.
On the other hand, the C295 Armed ISR is a persistent ISR aircraft with precision laser-guided munitions that is fully equipped and prepared to respond in the most difficult scenarios.
Airbus Defence and Space has presented an update of its armed C295 version at the recently concluded Special Operations Forces Innovation Network Seminar (SOFINS) 2021 held in France. This is an ISR version with a multi-mission radar that can also be weaponised to conduct persistent Close Air Support (CAS) operations.
This variant combines a comprehensive set of surveillance sensors and Airbus’s latest iteration of its FITS mission system with a full set of weapons, giving the operators the capability to perform long endurance ISR missions and to provide Close Air Support when needed.
Armed ISR Aircraft
On another front, the C295 Armed ISR aircraft is provided with underwing hard points for the installation of anti-surface missiles, rockets, bombs and reconnaissance/jamming pods.
The weaponry that the C295 can incorporate with its efficient under-wing carriage includes Roketsan’s L-UMTAS anti-tank missile, Cirit laser-guided rockets, the Teber-82 laser bomb-guidance kit and Mk 82 warhead and Expal’s CAT-70 un-guided rockets with its multiple rocket launcher.
The semi-active laser (SAL)-guided L-UMTAS has both day and night attack capability and can strike stationary and moving targets within a range of 500m and 8,000m.
This variant also features Rheinmetall’s BK 27 autocannon and Escribano’s remotely operated weapon system (RCWS). All the weaponry is integrated with the FITS system so that the operators can accurately perform the targetting. The BK 27 has a high rate of fire of 1,700 rounds a minute.
The para-troop side doors can be mounted with two 12.7mm light machine guns and associated mounts.
The aircraft can be optionally equipped with self-protection equipment and systems such as a radar warning receiver (RWR), a missile approach warning system (MAWS), a laser warning system (LWS) and chaff/flares dispensers.
Integrated Engines
The power-plant integrates two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprop engines driving a pair of six-bladed propellers. It ensures superior manoeuvrability, hot and high performance, and low fuel consumption. The power-plant enables a maximum speed of 480km/h and a long endurance of up to 11 hours.
The aircraft has a smaller operational footprint to enable operations from soft, rough and unprepared runways, as well as short airstrips with a length of less than 670m.
New Developments
The C295 Armed ISR recently conducted its maiden flight equipped with eight laser guided missiles and two laser guided bomb dummies, located on four underwing hardpoints.
A first set of flights were testing the impact of the different weapons configurations on the aerodynamical and mechanical integration.
With the quality and safety of the modification ensured by Airbus as Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), the C295 Armed ISR provides persistent surveillance with a diverse set of weapons for defensive and attack capabilities.
It is able to carry out special operations missions, support to ground troops and neutralisation of targets detected during surveillance and patrol missions, with the longest endurance in it class.
The Armed ISR incorporates different weaponry options available in kits that allow the operator to select the most appropriate option for their requirements: from machine guns, 27 mm autocannon, guided and unguided rockets, laser guided missiles to laser guided bombs.
As announced at Dubai Airshow 2017, the company signed a series of agreements with air-to-surface weapon suppliers paving the way for flight-trials to qualify their products to equip the C295.
These agreements include a memorandum of understanding with Roketsan of Turkey and similar arrangements have been signed with Expal, Escribano and Equipaer of Spain, as well as Rheinmetall of Germany, and the U.S. suppliers Nobles Worldwide and U.S. Ordnance.
Reference Text/Photo: www.airbus.com
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