The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has started flight tests of an armed version of the C295 transport vehicle. According to Aviacionline, the aircraft carries eight laser-guided missiles and two aerial bombs.
The C295 can reach speeds of up to 580 kilometers per hour, fly a distance of up to 1.3 thousand kilometers and carry 9.3 tons. It is designed to transport 71 fighters, but Airbus finds other uses for it. The C295 was turned into a water bomber for extinguishing fires and into a flying tanker for refueling other aircraft.
In 2017, Airbus introduced an armed version of the C295 for intelligence and surveillance. It is intended for aviation support. The armed version of the C295 can reach speeds of up to 480 kilometers per hour, and 670 meters is enough for it to land or take off.
The concern has signed agreements with several manufacturers of surface — to-air weapons, including the Turkish company Roketsan, the German Rheinmetall and the American US Ordnance. Therefore, the transport vehicle is suitable for Turkish L-UMTAS and Cirit missiles, Teber-82 aerial bombs, Rheinmetall BK 27 automatic gas cannon and US Ordnance light machine guns. Depending on the tasks, an irradiation warning station, a missile approach warning system, a laser warning system and an infrared trap dropping machine are installed on the aircraft.
Airbus announced the beginning of flight tests of an armed transport vehicle at a seminar for special forces SOFINS 2021. Eight laser-guided missiles and two aerial bombs were attached under the wings of the aircraft. During the first flights, engineers checked how different weapons options affect the aerodynamics of the aircraft. Other details about the tests are not disclosed.
It is not only Airbus that is engaged in arming transport aircraft. Earlier we wrote about the Commando II, which the US military tested as a carrier for cruise missiles.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva
