The Senegalese Air Force has taken delivery of a CN235 from the PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) factory in Indonesia following the delays caused by the pandemic in 2020. The most recent acquisition will bring Senegal’s order tally to five CN235s: two second-hand and three new ones, and of those three new, two in maritime patrol and one in transport configuration.
The Senegalese Air Force (Armée de l’Air du Senegal) signed for its first CN-235-220M with PTDI in November 2014 and the airframe was subsequently delivered in January 2017. The aircraft is capable of performing a variety of missions including paratrooping, medical evacuation, general transport duties, and VIP transport. For the second airframe, the service was seeking maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) variant of the CN-235 jet.
For the maritime patrol role, the CN235-220 is equipped with a 360-degree search radar with a range of up to 200 nautical miles, an Automatic Identification System (AIS), and a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor for day/night operations.
In recent years countries in Africa have been rejuvenating and even completely replacing their military equipment as the threats caused by jihadism, civil unrest and rebels have been growing increasingly sophisticated. In West Africa, the threats especially by ISIS and al Qaeda have been on the rise in recent years prompting nations in the region and bloc to seek strength and capability enhancement for their militaries.
