The Brunei’s Ministry of Defence signed the certificate of Customer Acceptance Test for the first C295MW aircraft under the Air Transport project. Signing on behalf of the Ministry of Defence was Yang Mulia 830 Major (U) Arif Shamirul bin Salleh, Royal Brunei Air Force, as Head of Resident Project Office for the project while representing Airbus Defence and Space S.A.U, Spain was Pablo Alvaro Ramos Ruiz, Programme Manager. To mark the milestone, the aircraft key was presented to the Commander of the Royal Brunei Air Force, Yang Mulia Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Mohd Sharif bin Dato Paduka Haji Ibrahim. Present to witness the ceremony were Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Second Minister of Defence, Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Retired) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof, and the Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, Yang Mulia Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Muhammad Haszaimi bin Bol Hassan as well as members of the Royal Brunei Air Force acceptance team. The ceremony took place at Airbus Defence and Space San Pablo, Seville, Spain.
The Customer Acceptance Test is part of the acceptance requirements to be conducted before the aircraft is flown to Brunei Darussalam for delivery in January 2024. Upon arrival to Brunei Darussalam, a Site Acceptance Test will be performed and the title of the aircraft shall then be transferred to the Ministry of Defence. The signing was the first out of two in the near future, with the second aircraft to undergo its Customer Acceptance Test in January 2024 in Seville, Spain. Both aircraft are scheduled to be flown and delivered together to Brunei Darussalam in January 2024. The Air Transport project contract was signed between the Ministry of Defence, on behalf of the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and Airbus Defence and Space S.A.U. on 2 December 2022 for the delivery of four C295MW Air Transport fleet to replace the ageing CN235-110M aircraft of the Royal Brunei Air Force, capable to perform various missions including Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, MEDEVAC (Medical Evacuations), NEO (Non-combatant Evacuation Operations) and SAR (Search and Rescue operations). The aircraft is also configurable to perform various roles such as Troop and Cargo Transport, VIP Transport, Freefall, Airborne Static Jumps and Cargo Drops.
Acceptance and signing ceremony for the Customer Acceptance Test (CAT) certificate for the first C295MW aircraft of the Royal Brunei Air Force in San Pablo, Seville, Spain. (Photo by Mindef Brunei)
The Airbus C295 is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was designed and initially manufactured by the Spanish aerospace company CASA. Work on what would become the C-295 was started during the 1990s as a derivative of the successful CASA/IPTN CN-235 transport aircraft. On 28 November 1997, the prototype performed its maiden flight; quantity production commenced shortly thereafter. In April 1999, the Spanish Air Force became its launch customer with an order for nine military-configured C-295s; two years later, the type was declared operational with the service. Further orders for the C-295 would promptly follow. Following the incorporation of CASA into the pan-European aeronautical group EADS in 2000, it was redesignated as the EADS CASA C-295. Both manufacturing and final assembly of the C-295 is normally performed at the Airbus Defence and Space facilities in San Pablo Airport, located in Seville, Spain.
Airbus Military has begun assembling a modification to add winglets to the C295 medium transport and surveillance aircraft – one of a series of product developments underway on the market-leading type. The winglets, which are short extensions to the wingtips of the aircraft, have the potential to improve performance in the take-off, climb and cruise phases of flight by increasing the lift-drag ratio. Possible in-service benefits include improved hot and high runway performance, increased range and endurance, and reduced operating costs. First flight of the wingletted aircraft took place with complete success at Airbus Military’s Seville facility in Spain on 21 December, 2013. Data from that flight is being analysed and will be added to data from future flights, providing the basis for a decision on whether or not to incorporate winglets into the C295 design.
