Indonesian Aerospace (PT. Dirgantara Indonesia, PTDI) announced today that the CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft for Senegal received a flight acceptance certificate. While the date is yet to be officially informed now, the delivery of this CN-235 to Senegal is edging closer. While the aircraft will be Senegal’ second CN-235, it will be the first one in Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) configuration. The first one delivered back in 2017 by PTDI came in a “quick change” configuration (it can be reconfigured quickly for various missions including general transport duties, VIP transport and MEDEVAC). On May 16, the Indonesian Embassy in Senegal announced that the Senegalese government had agreed to purchase a CN-235 configured for MPA missions.
The Senegalese Air Force (Armée de l’Air du Senegal) signed for its first CN-235-220M with PTDI in November 2014 and the airframe was subsequently delivered in January 2017. The aircraft is capable of performing a variety of missions including paratrooping, medical evacuation, general transport duties, and VIP transport. It is not clear which sensor systems will be fitted aboard the aircraft but CN235 in MPA configuration may be fitted with Thales OceanMaster or Searchmaster or Telephonics APS-143C(V)3 radars. A third CN-235 aircraft – the second in MPA configuration – is expected to be ordered, bringing the Senegalese fleet to five airframes in the future. Contract negotiations for the additional aircraft have reportedly been clinched in February during the Singapore Air Show but have been postponed to 2021 due to the outbreak of the Covid-19.
The CASA/IPTN CN-235 is a medium-range twin-engined transport aircraft that was jointly developed by Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) of Spain and Indonesian Aerospace (PT. Dirgantara Indonesia), as a regional airliner and military transport. Its primary military roles include maritime patrol, surveillance, and air transport. Its largest user is Turkey, which has 59 aircraft. The partnership applied only to the Series 10 and Series 100/110, with later versions being developed independently. Over 230 of all versions of CN-235 are in service and have accumulated more than 500,000 flight hours. Design began in January 1980 with the first flight on 11 November 1983. In 1995, CASA launched development of a stretched CN-235 as the C-295.
Naval aviation operators of the CN-235 aircraft (in various versions) include the U.S. Coast Guard, the Korean Coast Guard, the Turkish Navy, the Indonesian Navy, the Colombian Navy, the Ecuadorian Navy, the Irish Air Corps, the Mexican Navy, the Spanish Coast Guard (Guardia Civil). HC-144 Ocean Sentryis an United States Coast Guard designation for a planned twenty-two aircraft fleet bought to replace the small HU-25 Guardian business-style jets. As of 2019, eighteen had been delivered. CN-235 MPA is a maritime patrol version with 6 hardpoints to carry AM-39 Exocet-Missiles or Mk.46-Torpedoes. The CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft has been developed in two versions with different avionics systems: the CN-235MP Persuader developed in Spain by CASA EADS (now Airbus) and the CN-235MPA developed by Indonesian Aerospace (formerly IPTN).
