Spain orders Airbus maritime patrol, surveillance aircraft for $2B

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 end of 2022, Airbus said. Equipment for each of these aircraft includes a magnetic anomaly detector and sonobuoys for submarine detection; a multimode radar for long-range target detection; and satellite communications technology.

These aircraft will also carry weapons, including torpedoes, and will be “highly connected” so they can operate as flying command-and-control centers, according to the French company.

The remaining 10 C295 aircraft in the maritime surveillance configuration are to replace Spain’s aging CN-235 fleet, which entered operations in 1988, according to the Air Force.

Airbus will equip the new planes for anti-smuggling, anti-illegal migration and anti-drug trafficking operations, as well as search and rescue missions, the firm said.

Spain already operates a fleet of 13 C295 aircraft in a transport configuration, and the two maritime versions will have a high degree of synergy, the manufacturer said.

Assembly will take place at the Airbus military facilities in Seville, Spain. The country expects to receive the first C295 in the maritime patrol configuration in 2027; the first surveillance configuration the year after; and delivery of the final aircraft in 2031. CASA, a predecessor company of Airbus, designed and first manufactured the C295.

The contract includes training systems, such as a full flight simulator, as well an initial logistics support package, Airbus said. The government approved the budget to buy 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 end of November, of which 216 were delivered so far. The company in September handed over the first 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 two and a half hours at a distance of 800 nautical miles from takeoff, and six and a half hours at a distance of 400 nautical miles, according to Airbus.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——空客公司周三宣布，西班牙已订购16架空客C295飞机，用于海上巡逻和监视，总价值17亿欧元（19亿美元）。

空客公司表示，六款海上巡逻型飞机将配备反潜和反水面作战设备，以取代于2022年底退役的西班牙P-3“猎户座”机队。每架飞机都配备有用于探测潜艇的磁异常探测器和声呐浮标；用于远程目标探测的多模式雷达；以及卫星通信技术。

据这家法国公司称，这些飞机还将携带包括鱼雷在内的武器，并且将“高度互联”，以便它们可以作为飞行指挥控制中心运行。

据空军称，剩余的 10 架海上监视配置的 C295 飞机将取代西班牙老旧的 CN-235 机队，该机队于 1988 年开始服役。

空客公司表示，新飞机将配备用于反走私、反非法移民和反毒品贩运行动以及搜救任务的设备。

制造商表示，西班牙目前已拥有 13 架 C295 运输机，而这两种海上版本将具有高度协同效应。

组装工作将在位于西班牙塞维利亚的空客军用设施进行。西班牙预计将于2027年接收首架海上巡逻型C295，次年接收首架监视型C295，并在2031年接收最后一架飞机。C295由空客的前身公司CASA设计并首次制造。

空客公司表示，合同内容包括培训系统（例如全飞行模拟器）以及初始后勤支持方案。政府于6月批准了购买C295飞机的预算，并于9月签署了合同。

C295飞机在西班牙的出口市场取得了巨大成功，截至11月底，西班牙共收到283架订单，其中216架已交付。今年9月，该公司向印度空军交付了其订购的56架C295飞机中的首架。

该飞机由两台普惠涡轮螺旋桨发动机提供动力，最大起飞重量为23公吨。据空客公司称，武装海上巡逻型飞机在起飞后800海里范围内可连续飞行两个半小时，在400海里范围内可连续飞行六个半小时。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。