Airbus shows the future Spanish C295W military aircraft in three configurations

Spain, like other allied countries, is making significant purchases of military equipment for its Armed Forces.

The Spanish Air Force will retire its CN235 and C212 Aviocar aircraft with 18 new C295s
Spanish Air Force will receive 16 C295W MPA/MSA: this is how these aircraft are for maritime missions

These purchases include new aircraft to renew outdated fleets (such as the CASA C212 Aviocar and CN235 transport planes) and to recover currently lost capabilities, such as maritime patrol, in which Spain has a significant deficiency after the retirement of the last P-3M Orions in December 2022. The unusual fact that a country with a very long coastline and an important strategic position (both for its privileged location in the North Atlantic and for being the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea) has been without maritime patrol aircraft for more than three years speaks volumes about Spain's low investment in defense and political shortsightedness in this area.

In June 2023, we learned of Spain's acquisition of 16 C295W aircraft dedicated to maritime operations. Initially, there were to be 6 MPA maritime patrol aircraft and 10 MSA maritime surveillance aircraft, but ultimately there will be 8 MPA and 8 MSA.

That was Spain's first purchase of the new C295W aircraft, equipped with redesigned wings and winglets —wingtip devices that improve the aircraft's performance during takeoff and flight, extending its range. Furthermore, the C295W has more powerful engines and six-bladed propellers, instead of the four-bladed propellers of the original C295. The C295W entered service in 2014, but until now, the entire Spanish military C295 fleet consisted of the C295M version, the original model.

At the end of December, Airbus announced Spain's purchase of 18 more C295Ws, in this case the MTA tactical transport version. These aircraft will replace the CN235 and C212 fleets dedicated to training pilots and paratroopers for the Spanish Air Force.

Those 18 C295W MTAs will be delivered in two batches: the first will arrive between 2026 and 2028 and will consist of aircraft dedicated to training and transporting passengers, paratroopers and cargo for the Military Air Transport School of the Matacán Air Base, in Salamanca, which currently operates the CN235.

The second batch will be delivered between 2030 and 2032 and will consist of aircraft for manual and automatic parachute jumps at the "Méndez Parada" Military Parachute School at Alcantarilla Air Base in Murcia, which currently operates the C212 Aviocar. It is likely that during this process the CN235s from Matacán will be transferred to Alcantarilla, as the C212s have more years of service.

This Thursday, Airbus displayed four of these Spanish C295Ws at its Seville factory. According to the European aerospace company, the aircraft are already on the final assembly line.

The four aircraft shown in these photos are of three different versions: a C295W MPA (maritime patrol, on the left), two C295W MTAs (transport, those seen in the center of the image), and a C295W MSA (maritime surveillance, on the right). The aircraft are still unpainted. They bear the Spanish flag on their tail fins.

The aircraft in these images have their construction numbers on their winglets and tail fins. The C295W MPA is S-260, the C295W MTAs are S-258 and S-257, and the C295W MSA is S-256. Above, we see the C295W MTA S-257 and the C295W MSA S-256.

One of the differences we can see between these aircraft is the space for the SatCom antenna on the C295W MPA. The space this antenna will occupy is clearly visible on the upper part of the fuselage, just in front of the wing (it's the aircraft on the left in the following photo).

It must be said that these are not the first Spanish C295W aircraft we have seen. On July 30, 2025, Airbus Defence showcased the first Spanish C295W MSA rolling off the assembly line, the S-239, a maritime patrol aircraft:

New milestone achieved! ✔️
The first C295 Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) for Spain has rolled-out from our Final Assembly Line in Seville 🇪🇸 and has entered the development and certification testing phase towards its first flight, scheduled before the end of the year.

This… pic.twitter.com/Fc0EmVOJFZ

— Airbus Defence (@AirbusDefence) July 30, 2025

Airbus stated that this aircraft "will be primarily equipped for maritime and overland operations such as anti-smuggling and anti-drug trafficking operations, as well as national and international search-and-rescue missions." In the following months, this aircraft entered the development and certification testing phase.

On November 11, Airbus Defence showed the first flight of the S-239, still without paint and with a provisional civil registration EC-239.

On January 27, the 46th Wing of the Spanish Air Force published the first image of the S-239, already painted and with its markings (although still bearing the provisional civil registration EC-239), on the occasion of a visit by members of that unit to the Airbus factory in Seville. The aircraft bears the emblem of the 46th Wing under the "Ejército del Aire" inscription, so everything indicates that this aircraft will be assigned to the 802 Squadron based in Gando, Gran Canaria, a unit dedicated to search and rescue missions.

The 46th Wing also released this image of the aircraft's interior, specifically the ramp area. We can see two large orange bags. These are life rafts that the C295W MSA can airdrop from its rear ramp on SAR (search and rescue) missions.

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Photos: Airbus / Airbus Defence / Ala 46.