Spanish Air Force and Airbus continue C-295 in-flight refueling tests.

The Ala 35, based in Getafe (Madrid), and Airbus have worked together in recent weeks to continue testing the in-flight refueling version of the C-295 military transport aircraft which the company is developing.

Several test flights have been carried out at different speeds, testing the new equipment and its different configurations according to the speeds at which the maneuver takes place (Picture source: Ejército del Aire Ministerio de Defensa España)

For this, several test flights have been carried out at different speeds, testing the new equipment and its different configurations according to the speeds at which the maneuver takes place.

After these flights, conclusions have been drawn so that the Airbus engineering team can continue developing the system. It should be noted that it has been the first time that contacts have been made with real fuel transfer from one aircraft to another using the new equipment.

The degree of difficulty in this kind of test is always high, since it involves performing maneuvers that nobody has flown before. It should be noted that due to the behavior of the aircraft, the operation has been quite good and simple, always within the limits of difficulty inherent in a test flight.

The Airbus C295 is a new generation tactical airlifter in the light and medium segment. It is robust and reliable but also highly versatile in terms of the number of different missions it can perform. The C295 conducts multi-role operations worldwide under all weather conditions. It is fully certified and routinely operates day and night in combat missions in all weather extremes, from desert to maritime environments, from extremely hot to extremely cold temperatures.