Kazakhstan’s air force has ordered two Airbus Military C295 transports and has signed a memorandum of understanding for another six.
Airbus Military signed the contract with Kazspetsexport, a State Company belonging to the Ministry of Defence of Kazakhstan. The aircraft will be operated by the Air Forces of Kazakhstan in support of their transport missions throughout the nation’s vast territory, Airbus said.
Separate contracts will be signed progressively over the next few years for the other six C295s. The first two aircraft will be delivered by April 2013 and for the remaining six aircraft a delivery schedule will be defined over the following years.
Under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Airbus Military will support the Kazakh Ministry of Defence over the period of delivery in transferring the required technological know-how in supporting the aircraft with the objective that the Ministry’s team will eventually take over autonomously the support of the C295.
“Airbus Military is extremely proud that the Kazakhstan Ministry of Defence has shown its confidence in our products when diversifying its supplier base and that Kazakhstan is now our first customer country within the CIS region. We will ensure that we live up to this mark of confidence and stand by our new customer for many years to come”, said Rafael Tentor, Head of Airbus Military Aircraft Programmes.
“This is exactly the kind of transport capacity Kazakhstan needs for current and future missions. The capabilities of the C295, combined with its cost-efficiency, ensured that it was selected over alternative offers for the renewal of the military transport fleet of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the 10 tonne payload class.”
The C295 is a twin turboprop multirole transport aircraft manufactured by Airbus Military in Spain. It is capable of accommodating 71 troops, 50 paratroops or five standard cargo pallets (payload is 9 200 kg).
Over 85 C295s are in service today with 14 different operators. Recent customers include Ghana (which received the first of two in November last year) and Egypt, which received its first example in September last year. Airbus Military is also proposing a C295 variant to South Africa for its maritime patrol aircraft requirement.
C295s in service today have accumulated more than 110 000 flying hours.
