Washington, D.C., May 27, 2005
A highly successful four-week demonstration tour of EADS CASA’s C-295 and CN-235 has demonstrated the capabilities of these highly capable airlifters to meet the U.S. Army’s requirements for its Future Cargo Aircraft (FCA) mission requirement.
Conducted by the Team FCA industrial partnership of EADS CASA North America and Raytheon, the tour visited a total of six states in May and enabled the Army and National Guard user/acquisition communities to evaluate the C-295 and CN-235 first-hand.
The U.S. Army is seeking a new transport aircraft that can carry out rapid-response intra-theater missions with cargo, equipment and soldiers, as well as perform medivac duties and airdrop delivery. This follow-on transport is to be selected from an existing airlifter in a non-developmental, off-the-shelf acquisition.
Both the C-295 and CN-235 provide no-risk solutions to the Army’s FCA requirement – offering combat-proven aircraft that are in production and are demonstrating their capabilities daily with military services around the world.
The C-295 and CN-235 logged a combined total of more than 100 flight hours during the U.S. demonstration tour, and their 100 percent availability throughout the trip underscored the excellent reliability and ease of maintenance for both aircraft. Stopovers by the aircraft were made in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Nebraska and Arkansas. During the Army Aviation Association of America's annual convention in Orlando, Florida, EADS CASA North America and Raytheon announced their Team FCA industrial for the Army’s Future Cargo Aircraft competition.
Feedback on the C-295 and CN-235 was extremely positive throughout the demonstration tour, with the aircraft praised for their docile handling characteristics and light control forces, excellent performance and low noise levels.
“The National Guard and Army aviators were pleased that we offered them the opportunity to actually fly the aircraft with no restrictions on what they could do – from maneuvering and stalls to short field landings,” explained Norbert Fortier, EADS CASA North America's Director of Army Programs.
Also receiving high ratings was the C-295/CN-235 interoperability with the CH-47 Chinook helicopter, which is assured by their similar cargo cabin cross-sections and further enhanced by use of EADS CASA’s newly-developed self-propelled pallet transfer system – which was unveiled during the demonstration tour. The CH-47 is one of the Army’s workhorse short-range airlifters, and is being heavily used in Iraq and elsewhere.
Fortier said the new pallet transfer system was the direct result of inputs received by EADS CASA from Army National Guard officers during the C-295's 2004 demonstration tour. The National Guard will be the primary operator of the Future Cargo Aircraft for Army intra-theater transport missions.
"The C-295/CN-235 will rewrite Army operational scenarios by bringing cargo pallets directly from the intermediate staging bases out to CH-47s or to forward-deployed units. The National Guard questioned how can the pallets would be transferred to CH-47 Chinooks without ground support equipment, such as forklifts, and with a limited number of personnel," Fortier explained. "We listened to the operational concerns of the customer, and decided to launch our own development of the autonomous pallet transfer system – which made its U.S. debut during this year’s demonstration tour."
The self-propelled EADS CASA pallet transfer system is a compact unit that fits on the C-295/CN-235's rear ramp – keeping the aircraft's main cabin free for cargo. Empty weight of the system is 1,815 lb., and it can carry pallets weighing up to 6,600 lb. A single operator controls the system using a ruggedized console with intuitive controls for speed, pallet height and pallet inclination.
For additional information on the C-295/CN-235, see the Team FCA website at: http://www.us-c295.com.
