EADS Military Transport Aircraft Division No. 3

The new Military Transport Aircraft division at EADS will immediately rank as No.3 in the world behind Boeing with the C-17 and Lockheed Martin with the C-130J Hercules and its twin-engined C-27J Spartan known as "half a Herc."

Headed by Casa chairman Alberto Fernandez, the EADS division incorporates the entire Casa transport product line, from the C-212 light transport to the CN-235, to the C-295 pressurized twin that competes head-to-head with the revamped Lockheed Martin/Alenia C-27J update of the Italian G.222.

The division also embraces EADS' interest in the seven-nation Airbus Military Company, which will develop the turboprop A400M tactical and logistical transport. (EADS now owns 80% of the parent Airbus Industrie consortium).

No other manufacturer in the world offers such a broad range of transports able to carry from three to 32 tons, or 25 to 105 soldiers or paratroopers.

Top of the current line is the new C-295 advanced tactical military transport. Casa has forecast a market for 1,200 aircraft in the class of the C-295 and hopes to capture a 30% share. The aircraft's builders say it can carry 23 more troops than the rival C-27J in its 12-ft longer pressurized fuselage. Another selling point is its certification to FAA FAR 25 airworthiness standards.

Spain became the launch customer in January with an order for nine C-295s for delivery to begin before the end of this year. The aircraft is currently in competitions in Australia, Greece and Switzerland, all of which are being hotly contested by the C-27J.

Ironically, the C-27J will be marketed in the future by another member of the EADS family: the military aircraft joint venture it is forming with Finmeccanica's Alenia by the end of this year.
More than 900 Casa-built transports are flying today, comprising 460-plus light Casa C-212s and over 230 CN-235s. Together they have racked up more than three million flight hours.