PTDI hands over CN235 to Senegal

1166

PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI – Indonesian Aerospace) has handed over a CN235 aircraft to Senegal, which will use it for maritime patrol.

On 18 March, Indonesian defence minister Prabowo Subianto and President Director of PTDI, Elfien Goentoro, inspected the CN235-220 MPA ahead of its symbolic handover on 19 March. All is set for a long flight from Indonesia, PTDI said. The aircraft was received by Senegal’s Air Brigadier General Papa Souleymane Sarr.

The aircraft (AX-2348, expected to become 6W-TTD but apparently now 6W-TPA) performed its maiden flight in December last year. It was rolled out by PTDI on 4 August and is equipped with a forward-looking infrared sensor ball under the nose and belly-mounted radar for the maritime patrol role.

In August 2017 it was reported that Senegal had ordered a single CN235-200 for maritime patrol through AD Trade Belgium and in mid-2019 Indonesian Aerospace was busy constructing a CN235-220 MPA for Senegal. Photos of this aircraft, with construction number N069, emerged in early 2020. This is the aircraft (AX-2348) that is being delivered.

Senegal will be receiving another CN235. In February 2020 it emerged that the West African country was in final negotiations with Indonesia for an additional CN235 and on 16 May the Indonesian Embassy in Senegal announced that the Senegalese government had agreed to purchase a CN235 configured for maritime patrol. It was acquired through AD Trade Belgium and is expected to be delivered sometime in 2021.

The most recent acquisition will bring Senegal’s order tally to five CN235s (two second hand and three new, and of those three new, two in maritime patrol and one in transport configuration).

In January 2017, the Senegalese Air Force received a CN235-220M transport aircraft from Indonesian Aerospace, after it had been ordered in November 2014 via AD Trade Belgium, with the contract signed at the Indodefence exhibition that year. Senegal’s aircraft was delivered in a quick-change configuration that allows it to be used for paratrooping, medical evacuation, VIP and passenger transport missions.

The Senegalese Air Force previously acquired two second hand CN235s, also both built in Indonesia. These were originally commercial models flown by Indonesia’s Merpati Nusantara Airlines, but later changed to military CN-235-220M configuration and delivered in November 2010 and August 2012 under a $13 million contract. One of the CN235s was later sold to Guinea, reports Air Forces Daily.