The French Ministry of Defense and Airbus Military signed a contract for the acquisition of 8 CN235-300 military aircrafts for the French Air Force.

Delivery will start mid next year to replace part of the aging C160-Transalls when used for missions involving the transport of less than six tonnes of payload.

These aircraft come in addition to the 19 CN235-200 already in operation with the French Air Force. They will help develop light transport, logistics, and paratroop training missions. Recently, three Fort de France (French Caribbean) based CN235s significantly contributed to the Haiti relief activities.

The maintenance of the new aircraft will be handled by Airbus Military through the FISS (Full In Service Support) agreement.

"We are very pleased that the French Air Force has once more selected one member of our product family. This contract demonstrates that, once again, we have the right product range to satisfy their most varied needs in terms of strategic and tactical transport needs" said Domingo Urena, CEO of Airbus Military