Designed with the same operating criteria as the CASA CN-135, the C-295 has high commonality.
The CN-295 received FAA FAR-25 certification on 17 December 1999.
The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) received its third and final Airbus SC-105 Amazonas search and rescue (SAR) aircraft on December 9, 2020, during a handover ceremony at the company’s production facility in Seville, Spain.
Following the delivery, the aircraft – serial 6552 – departed Spain on December 11 for Campo Grande air base in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state. There it will be operated by the 2nd Squadron of the 10th Aviation Group (2°/10° GAv) ‘Pelicano (Pelican)’, alongside serials 6550 and 6551, which were delivered in August 2017 and October 2019, respectively. Locally designated the SC-105 Amazonas, this dedicated SAR platform is a variant of Airbus’ C-295MPA Persuader twin-turboprop maritime patrol aircraft.
The first SC-105 entered service with Brazil in April 2009, when two SAR-equipped variants of the C-105 Amazonas tactical transport (based on the C-295M) operated as an interim solution for the FAB. In July 2014, Airbus announced that the South American nation had contracted it to produce and deliver three fully SAR-configured SC-105s to the air force.
The two interim examples are being reconverted into C-105 tactical transports. One has already reverted back to its original configuration and was redelivered to the FAB after SC-105, serial 6550, was handed over in 2017. The second will undergo the same process now that the third and final fully SAR-configured SC-105 has arrived in Brazil.
The Tata Aerospace Complex in Vododara, Gujarat, India was opened in 2024, dedicated to manufacturing C-295. Under the deal, 57 C-295 were to be supplied to the IAF, with 16 aircraft manufactured in Spain and the remaining 40 produced in India. The first Indian-assembled C-295 was expected September 2026.
Ceiling: 30,000 ft
Range: 2850 nm
Payload: 9700 kg
Capacity: 78 troops.
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