India acquires 56 transport aircraft Airbus C295

India has finally signed an agreement for the acquisition of 56 Airbus C295. These aircraft will replace the Indian Air Force (IAF) legacy AVRO fleet.

The first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville (Spain), while the other 40 will be manufactured and assembled by the Tata Advanced Systems (TASL).

Press release (Airbus).

The contract is the largest signed for the type, representing ~25% of total sales up to date. It will guarantee production for the next few years.

According to Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space “This contract will support the further development of India’s aerospace ecosystem, bringing investment and 15,000 skilled direct jobs and 10,000 indirect positions over the coming 10 years”.

References:

- https://www.airbus.com/

20 years since the deployment of F/A-18 Hornet in Gando, Canary Islands (Spain)

Last month the Spanish Airforce (Ejército del Aire/EdA) celebrated 20 years since the deployment of the F/A-18 Hornet in Gando, Canary Islands, where they replaced Mirage F1 in Ala 46 (Wing 46). These photos were published in the EdA Facebook account.

The Hornets deployed in Gando are the oldest in the fleet, having been acquired second from the US in the 90s. Currently the Spanish government is looking at a replacement, which will more likely newly built EF-2000 to be acquired under project "Halcón".

References:

- https://www.facebook.com/EjercitoAire/

One hundred years of Spanish Naval Aviation

On the 13th of September the Spanish Naval Aviation it's 100th aniversary. Loads of photos and other material can be found by using the "hashtag" #100AviaciónNaval in twitter. The video below, created by the Spanish Navy, is excellent, and shows some of the ships and aircraft used in all these years.

References:

- https://twitter.com/Armada_esp
- http://fly-news.es/militar/la-armada-espanola-celebra-los-100-anos-de-la-aviacion-naval/

“Coraza Avanzada” maneouvers in Spain

A few weeks ago the Spanish Army and Navy carried out the exercise  Coraza Avanzada” (Advanced Armour). It took place in Rota and the brigade Guadarrama XII practised embarking and disembarking from the ship L-61 “Juan Carlos I”. 16 vehicles from the brigade participated as part of a tactical subunit. The disembarking from LCM-1E ships was also practised.

References:

- http://www.ejercito.mde.es/