Indonesia develops gunship variant of CN-235 aircraft

[Zarvan]

An Indonesian Navy CN-235-220 maritime patrol aircraft on display at Singapore Airshow 2016. PTDI is working on a gunship variant of the aircraft. Source: IHS Markit/Ridzwan Rahmat

Key Points

• PT Dirgantara has confirmed plans to market a gunship variant of the CN-235 turboprop aircraft
• Work on a demonstrator platform is currently under way, and the company aims for its first flight in 2019

Indonesian state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara (PTDI) has begun work on a gunship variant of the CN-235 twin-engine multipurpose aircraft, the company has confirmed to Jane’s .

The aircraft, which is based on the company’s CN-235-220 airframe, is being developed as a demonstrator platform, and will be marketed to potential customers in the Middle Eastern, African, and Central and Southeast Asian regions, said the company.

The aircraft is being modified to carry one single-barrelled 30 mm DEFA 553 aircraft cannon on the portside aft of its fuselage. The weapon has been salvaged from a retired Douglas A-4H Skyhawk that was formerly in service with the Indonesian Air Force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Udara: TNI-AU).

The DEFA 553 cannon has a muzzle velocity of 810 m/s, and can fire up to 1,200 rds/min at both air and surface targets. There are also plans to complement this weapon with electro-optical targeting systems and a laser designator. However, the company has yet to decide on systems that will be selected for these roles on the demonstrator.

Other differences that the gunship demonstrator will feature over earlier versions of PTDI’s CN-235 include using General Electric (GE) CT7-9 turboprop engines, instead of the older CT7-7. The aircraft has also been built with wingtip devices to improve the aircraft’s overall fuel efficiency.

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https://www.janes.com/article/82627/indonesia-develops-gunship-variant-of-cn-235-aircraft

 

[Umair Nawaz]

this could interest Pakistan into this project.

 

[Beast]

Gunship is less attractive with rise of drone. Even the American seldom used their gunship in Afghanistan instead more drone are deployed. With better of drone. Their loitering time increase, the number of missile and bomb also triple. The best is, they are zero casualty military hardware. The only casualty will be the foe.

If one gunship is down with many crews killed. You can imagine the backlash from public and heavy cost incurred.

Indonesian shall concentrated on drone and not this outdated gunship concept.

 

[Foxtrot Delta]

they must have a use for it hence they built it. i think Pakistan with all that border terrorist menace with afghanisan also can use a good gunship. i bet Chinese can turn a ZDK series platform into a small econimical gunship with in a few months. but then again if there isn't a need for such a system, no one will make it. we have had C130s for a long time and we never used them as gunships before while usa and others have done it.

 

[trishna_amṛta]

Indonesian shall concentrated on drone and not this outdated gunship concept.

Gunship is still very relevant for Indonesia domestic need.

 

[Indos]

The potential market IMO is for medical evacuation gunship and ASW that is also part of the offering.

 

[Indos]

Singapore Airshow 2020: Indonesia prepares CN-235 gunship for first aerial firings
Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - Jane's Defence Weekly
13 February 2020
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A model of the CN-235 gunship is pictured on display at the Singapore Airshow 2020 exhibition. Source: Jane’s/Ridzwan Rahmat
Key Points

• Indonesian aerospace company PT Dirgantara has made progress on a gunship variant of its CN-235 aircraft
• The variant will be marketed to potential customers, especially those in the Middle East and African regions

Indonesian state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara (PTDI) has completed ground firing trials on a gunship variant of the CN-235 twin-engine multipurpose aircraft, and is now preparing the airframe for its first aerial tests, Igan Satyawati, the company's vice president for business development and marketing, told Jane's at Singapore Airshow 2020.

The variant, which has been developed out of the company's flying test bed (FTB) airframe, is fitted with single-barrelled 30 mm DEFA 553 aircraft cannon on the portside aft of its fuselage.

The weapon was salvaged from a retired Douglas A-4H Skyhawk that was formerly in service with the Indonesian Air Force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Udara: TNI-AU).

The FTB was formerly in service with the now defunct domestic flight operator, Merpati Nusantara Airlines. PTDI acquired the airframe as a platform from which it can prove out experimental concepts, such as the gunship variant.

It is equipped with General Electric (GE) CT7-9 turboprop engines and has been structurally enhanced to withstand the weight of its 30 mm cannon. The airframe has also been retrofitted with storage compartments to store equipment and munitions related to the weapon.

There are plans to incorporate hardpoints on the aircraft's wings and fuselage so it can carry additional weapons but this is not a priority at the moment, said the company.

"Now that ground-based firings from the aircraft have been completed, we are focused on preparing the parameters to test the aircraft and its [30 mm] weapon while it is in the air," sad Igan, adding that the company is aiming to conduct the flight trials by 2020.

https://www.janes.com/article/94279...pares-cn-235-gunship-for-first-aerial-firings

they must have a use for it hence they built it. i think Pakistan with all that border terrorist menace with afghanisan also can use a good gunship. i bet Chinese can turn a ZDK series platform into a small econimical gunship with in a few months. but then again if there isn't a need for such a system, no one will make it. we have had C130s for a long time and we never used them as gunships before while usa and others have done it.

Pakistan can use the gunship in patrolling Waziristan region and they sea. Gunship can immediately give shot warning to any ship enroaching Pakistan territory or EEZ,, something that cant be done by MPA plane. C 130 IMO is too large for this role.