MADRID: The maiden flight of the first Brazilian P-3 aircraft upgraded at Airbus Military’s facilities in Getafe (Madrid) took place today.
The event was attended by the P-3 programme’s Brigadier General, the head of the programme, the resident Brazilian team as well as executives from Airbus Military.
This maiden voyage represents a further milestone in the programme to modernise nine (9) P-3 aircraft for the Brazilian government, and marks the culmination of the equipment development and installation phase, and the start of flight tests to certify the mission and avionics systems.
The aircraft is fitted with the FITS (Fully Integrated Tactical System) mission system developed by Airbus Military in Spain, which is at the heart of a sophisticated arms system which ranges from maritime patrol to the most comprehensive anti-submarine warfare configuration. The FITS system, designed as a flexible and modular system, can be fitted in any kind of platform, including proprietary Airbus Military platforms such as the C-212, CN-235 and C-295, as well as more complex platforms such as the P-3 Orion and Airbus A319.
The nine (9) P-3 aircraft will be used primarily in marine patrol missions including control of the Brazilian EEZ (exclusive economic zone), border protection, drug law enforcement in the Amazon region and search and rescue missions along an area stretching over 6 million km2 entrusted by the OACI to the Brazilian government (virtually the entire South Atlantic).
