Spain Orders 16 Airbus C295 In Maritime Patrol And Surveillance Configurations

[Zarvan]

C295 MPA and MSA flying in formation. Airbus image.

Spain Orders 16 Airbus C295 In Maritime Patrol And Surveillance Configurations​

The Spanish Ministry of Defence has ordered 16 Airbus C295 aircraft in Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) configuration and Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) configuration. The contract amounts to €1.695 billion.​

Naval News Staff 21 Dec 2023

Airbus press release

These new aircraft will enable the Spanish Air and Space Force and the Spanish Navy to strengthen the national anti-submarine warfare capability as well as increase and enhance its surveillance, reconnaissance and search & rescue units.

“The aircraft will be fully designed and manufactured in Spain, fostering the national industrial defence footprint and sovereignty” said Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space. “In particular, the Maritime Patrol version is the most complex C295 mission configuration to date. A major development project that will bring together the latest technologies to provide an operational advantage to our customer.”

The contract also includes training systems (Full Flight Simulator and Mission System Simulator) and an initial logistics support package.

The C295 MPA will conduct the missions performed by the P-3 Orion fleet, which were retired at the end of 2022. It will be equipped to carry out anti-submarine, anti-surface warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Likewise, it will be able to carry armaments such as torpedoes and other types of weapon systems.

The MPA configuration will be highly connected and will be able to operate in a collaborative mode with other platforms in different domains. The aircraft can become a flying command-and-control centre, providing the Spanish Armed Forces with the versatility to carry out a wide range of missions.

The C295 MSA is the natural replacement for the CN-235 VIGMA aircraft fleet, which have been in service with the Spanish Air and Space Force since 2008. It will be primarily equipped for maritime and overland operations such as anti-smuggling, anti-illegal immigration and anti-drug trafficking operations, as well as national and international search-and-rescue missions.

There will be a high degree of synergy between both configurations. The Spanish Air and Space Force also operates a fleet of 13 Airbus C295 in transport configuration.

The aircraft will be assembled at Airbus’ military facilities in Seville.

Spain orders 16 Airbus C295 in Maritime Patrol and Surveillance configurations - Naval News

The Spanish MoD has ordered 16 Airbus C295 aircraft in MPA configuration and MSA configuration. The contract amounts to €1.695 billion.

www.navalnews.com

 

[Archie]

C295 is a good platform , it has transport, AWACs and MPA versions

IAF just started inducting these as replacement for their AVRO HS260 which were grounded for nearly 10 yrs
Even Indian navy and coastguard are looking at it as a low cost alternative to American P8I

We have 12 P8i with the navy , but their are certain roles for which it is an overkill and the Indian government is of the opinion that we can get 15 C295 in the price of 6 additional P8I which the navy wanted

 

[Zarvan]

C295 is a good platform , it has transport, AWACs and MPA versions

IAF just started inducting these as replacement for their AVRO HS260 which were grounded for nearly 10 yrs
Even Indian navy and coastguard are looking at it as a low cost alternative to American P8I

We have 12 P8i with the navy , but their are certain roles for which it is an overkill and the Indian government is of the opinion that we can get 15 C295 in the price of 6 additional P8I which the navy wanted

Spain order is huge but than again their coastline is also massive.

 

[Archie]

Spain order is huge but than again their coastline is also massive.

Spanish order is huge for the size of the country

UK's Royal Navy only has 9 Advance MPA/ASW aircrafts
Indian navy only has 12 P8I MPA/ASW aircrafts , which are superior to C295 but not enough

Navy wanted to order 6 P8I to replace the 5 IL38 Seadragon Aircrafts that were retired in the last 2 yrs. Indian coastguard also handed over some of its Dornier 228 aircrafts to Seychelles , Mauritius, Maldives and Srilanka

GOI wants both to go for C295 since its cheaper and being manufactured in India by Tata