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| C-160 of the German Luftwaffe | |
| Role | Transport aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Transall |
| First flight | 25 February 1963 |
| Introduction | 1967 |
| Primary users | Luftwaffe French Air Force Turkish Air Force |
| Produced | 1965-1985 |
| Number built | 214 |
The Transall C-160 (often C.160) is a military transport aircraft developed by a consortium of French and German aircraft manufacturers for the air forces of those two nations and that of South Africa. The C-160 will be replaced in French and German service by the Airbus A400M, now under development1.
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Design and development
The C-160 was originally conceived as a replacement for the French Air Force's Nord Noratlas fleet. It is turboprop-powered and of conventional configuration for aircraft of this type, with high wings, and a loading ramp built into the rear of the fuselage. In size it falls between the Aeritalia G.222 and the C-130 Hercules.
Three prototypes flew in 1963, followed by pre-production machines in 1965 and production machines from 1967. The first batch included 110 C-160Ds for the Luftwaffe, 50 C-160Fs for the French Air Force, and 9 C-160Zs for the South African Air Force. Four C-160Fs were converted to C-160P air mail transport aircraft, and were operated by Air France. Production continued until 1972 with French aircraft built by Aérospatiale and German aircraft by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm.
Operational history
In 1977, the French Air Force ordered an updated version designated C-160NG, for Nouvelle Génération ("New Generation"). From 1981, 29 of these aircraft were delivered, half of them configured as tanker aircraft for aerial refuelling. Another 4 were configured as C-160H TACAMO aircraft, for communication with submerged submarines. Finally, 2 more were converted to SIGINT electronic surveillance aircraft, designated C-160G Gabriel, replacing the Noratlases that had been in this role previously. While still new, the C-160Gs took part in the Gulf War of 1991.
From 1994 to 1999, all French C-160s underwent an avionics upgrade and the addition of new anti-missile countermeasures. The C-160Fs and NGs so updated were redesignated C-160R (Renové - "renovated"). Luftwaffe machines have similarly undergone life-extension programmes by BAE Systems, but all French and German machines are reaching the end of their service lives as of 2008. All South African machines have already been retired, while the Turkish Air Force continues to operate 20 machines obtained from Germany (C-160T).
To replace the Transall, the Luftwaffe, the French Air Force, and the South African Air Force ordered respectively 60, 50 and 8 Airbus A400M.
Operators
Military operators
Civil operators
- Air France on behalf of French Postal Service
Specifications (Transall C-160D)
General characteristics
- Crew: five - two pilots, flight engineer, tactics officer, Loadmaster
- Capacity: cargo or up to 80 troops
- Payload: 16,000 kg (32,300 lb)
- Length: 32.40 m (106 ft 4 in)
- Wingspan: 40.00 m (131 ft 3 in)
- Height: 12.36 m (38 ft 3 in)
- Wing area: 160 m² (1,721 ft²)
- Empty weight: 30,000 kg (62,700 lb)
- Loaded weight: 46,000 kg (103,400 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 49,150 kg (112,200 lb)
- Powerplant: 2× Rolls-Royce Tyne 22 turboprops, 4,225 kW (5,565 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 513 km/h (319 mph)
- Range: 1,850 km (1,150 miles)
- Service ceiling 8,230 m (30,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 6.67 m/s (1,312 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 294 kg/m² (60 lb/ft²)
- Power/mass: 180 W/kg (0.11 hp/lb)
Avionics
- Flight management system
- GPS
- Laser-INS (inertial navigation system)
- TCAS II collision avoidance system
See also
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
- List of military aircraft of France
- List of military aircraft of Germany
- List of aircraft of the South African Air Force
- List of military transport aircraft
References
- ^ Hewson, R. The Vital Guide to Military Aircraft 2nd edition. Airlife Publishing Ltd., England 2001.
External links
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 1 December 2008, at 17:27.
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