{"id":59383,"date":"2025-04-24T20:33:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T18:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=59383"},"modified":"2025-10-17T20:57:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T18:57:47","slug":"the-lus-222-the-first-aircraft-made-in-portugal-and-which-aims-to-replace-the-spanish-aviocar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/04\/24\/the-lus-222-the-first-aircraft-made-in-portugal-and-which-aims-to-replace-the-spanish-aviocar\/","title":{"rendered":"The LUS-222, the first aircraft made in Portugal and which aims to replace the Spanish Aviocar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Portuguese military aviation took its first steps in 1912, but until now it has never operated a domestically produced aircraft.<\/p>\n

CASA C-212 Aviocar: the story of the greatest success of the Spanish aeronautical industry<\/a><\/rel>
\nRare images of one of the Spanish C-212 Aviocar aircraft of the United States Army<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

That could change in the near future, as Portugal has plans for what will be the first aircraft designed and manufactured in that country<\/a>. The project has been taken on by the Aero.Next Portugal<\/a> consortium, which brings together 36 entities and which \"aims to develop, industrialize and operate from Portugal, a complete aeronautical programme that will place the country on the restricted map of players that are final integrators of aircraft<\/strong>, becoming involved in the entire value chain, from design and engineering to post-production services (MRO)\"<\/em>, according to the public agency AICEP Portugal Global<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The consortium is led by Empresa de Engenharia e Aeron\u00e1utica (EEA), and its projects include \"a light regional aircraft \u2013 the LUS-222, and two unmanned aircraft<\/strong> \u2013 ARX, a maritime and coastal surveillance drone, and ET15, a drone to transport medical supplies in an emergency context.\"<\/em> EAA is currently involved in the successful Embraer C-390 Millennium project<\/strong>, a Brazilian twin-engine tactical transport aircraft similar in size to the C-130 Hercules, whose buyers include Brazil, Portugal, Austria, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Sweden.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

On its website, Aero.Next Portugal shows the images you can see here of the LUS-222<\/a> and offers some information about this transport aircraft: It will have a capacity of 19 passengers or 2,000 kg of cargo and a range of 2,000 km<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Furthermore, the LUS-222 aims to be a twin-engine STOL aircraft<\/strong>, that is, capable of taking off and landing on short and unprepared runways. Furthermore, the aim is to make an aircraft with low weight and easy maintenance<\/strong>. Both these features and its exterior appearance will be very familiar to you. In fact, some media have nicknamed the LUS-222 the \"Portuguese Aviocar\"<\/strong>, due to its similarity to the CASA C-212 Aviocar, the biggest sales success in the Spanish aeronautical industry<\/a>, as it was purchased by 31 military operators.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Portuguese Air Force (FAP) was one of the Aviocar operators.<\/strong> It purchased 20 C-212s in two variants: the C-212-100A1 (4 units) and 16 C-212-100-A2P (16 units). In 2011, Portugal retired its C-212s and replaced them with another successful Spanish model: the CASA C-295,<\/strong> purchasing 7 C-295M tactical transport aircraft and 5 C-295 Persuader maritime patrol aircraft. However, the C-295 is a medium tactical transport aircraft, and in some missions, a light transport aircraft like the Aviocar is missed.<\/strong> This is the gap that the LUS-222 is intended to fill. I wish our Portuguese brothers much success in this initiative, which I will follow closely from here.<\/p>\n

---<\/p>\n

Images: Aero.Next Portugal<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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