First P-3AM Aircraft of the FAB Carries Out Test Flight
(Source: Brazilian Air Force; issued April 29, 2009)
(Issued in Portuguese only; unofficial translation by defense-aerospace.com)
The first modernized P-3AM maritime patrol aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force takes off from Getafe airfield in Madrid for its maiden flight. (Airbus Military photo)
On Wednesday, 29th April, FAB 7200, the first P-3AM aircraft of the Brazilian Air Force, took off from the runway at Getafe, in the city of Madrid (Spain), to carry out its first test flight, an event of considerable significance in the Development Phase of the Modernization Project initiated in 2005.
The flight test activities, which are now beginning, are intended to validate, following exhaustive tests in the integration laboratory and on the actual aircraft on the ground, the operational reliability of the navigation and mission systems that were entirely developed by a combined team of specialists from the companies ATECH (Brazil) and EADS-CASA (Spain), under the management of the Subdirectorate of Development and Programs (SDDP) of the General Command of Aerospace Technology (CTA) and with the participation of the General Air Force Command.
Plans call for the Development Phase to be concluded in the end of this year, in Spain, when aircraft FAB 7200 will be handed over to the FAB. This will open the way for the beginning of training of FAB combat aircrew (pilots, flight engineers, acoustic operators, ESM/MAD and radar/EO operators, tactical coordinator, navigator and weapons operator) for operational missions.
Next year, the aircraft will be transferred to Salvador air base, in Bahia, where it will be submitted to a complete operational evaluation (AVOP) with the goal of demonstrating the functions and operational characteristics of each component of the mission systems. These will be evaluated in comparison with the operational and logistic requirements established by the Air Force Command in real operational environments, as stipulated in the modernization contract.
The P-3AM aircraft, with its modern equipment and embarked systems, is a powerful tool in line with the strategic directions established in the National Strategy of Defense. It will substantially develop the peacetime capacity of Brazil to protect Legal Amazon and, in particular, the pre-saltwater region of the Blue Amazon.
Moreover, the P-3AM aircraft will support of search and rescue operations in the South Atlantic, that, under international agreements, are of responsibility of Brazil.
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