A Spanish pilot shows one of the C-295M of the 353 Special Operations Squadron

@DefAviation ES 4·27·2024 · 22:23 0

For a few years now, the Spanish Air Force has had a fixed wing unit dedicated specifically to special operations missions.

C-41A: the Spanish aircrafts used by the United States special operations forces
The AFSOC 524th SOS: the 'airline' of the United States special operations military

That unit is the 353 Special Operations Squadron of the 35th Wing, based in Getafe (Madrid). This unit is equipped with a Spanish-made tactical transport aircraft, the CASA C-295M, whose Spanish military name is T.21 and which is currently produced by Airbus. The YouTube channel Fly By Wire Aviation has published an interesting video this Saturday in which a pilot from the 353 Squadron shows us his plane inside and out, tells us its characteristics and tells us about the missions that this aircraft can carry out:

The plane we see in the video is the T.21-01 35-01, with construction number S-002. It is the fourth of the C-295s built and the first of those received by the Air Force. Currently, Spain has 12 C-295M tactical transport, although the forecast is to reach up to 18 units. Also, the Spanish Air Force expects to receive 6 C-295W MPA for maritime patrol and 10 C-295W MSA for maritime surveillance, to replace the P-3 Orion already retired from service and the C-235 VIGMA.

The Spanish C-295M are operated by the 35th Wing, a unit formed by two squadrons: the 352 "Tucán" and the 353 "Ibis" (both equipped with C-295). The third squadron of the 35th Wing, the 351 "Azor", once equipped with CASA C-235, is currently deactivated. The 353 Squadron is specially prepared to support the missions of the EZAPAC (Parachute Sapper Squadron, the special operations unit of the Spanish Air Force) and the other units of the Joint Operations Command Special Operations (MCOE) of the Spanish Armed Forces: the Special Operations Command (MOE) of the Army and the Special Naval Warfare Force (FGNE) of the Navy.

Spain is not the only NATO country that has fixed-wing aircraft dedicated to special operations. In this issue, as in others, the reference country is the United States, whose Air Force has its own command of special operations, the AFSOC, currently made up of six Special Operations Wings equipped with aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft such as the AC-130J Ghostrider, the MC-130H Combat Talon II and also the Dornier C-146A Wolfhound of the 524th SOS that we already saw here, as well as CV-22B Osprey converter planes and MQ-9 Reaper drones. The US Army also has fixed-wing aircraft for this type of operations, including the C-41A, American name for the Spanish CASA C-212.