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| A C-295 in MPA form used by the Chilean Navy. With the C-295 choice of the PAF, the C-295 bid for the LRMPA project |
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| A C-295 transport aircraft delivered to the Mexican Air Force. |
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| Airbus Military's C-295 transport aircraft, as used by the Spanish Air Force. |
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| The CN-235 offered by PT DI was disqualified for failing to meet payload and space requirements. |
The bid submission and opening for the Philippine Air Force's requirement for 3 Medium Lift Fixed Wing Aircraft has seen Airbus Military (EADS-CASA) and PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) joining the tender. They are offering the C-295 and the CN-235, respectively. Noted was the absence of another expected bidder, Alenia Aermacchi with its C-27J Spartan aircraft. It appears that Airbus Military's C-295 is the lowest eligible bid, with a quote of Php 5.289 billion, or a little lower than the Php 5.3 billion budget allocated by the PAF and DND.
It is expected that the post qualification process will start soon, and may involve DND and PAF personnel to check EADS-CASA-Airbus Military's facilities and C-295 production in Spain, where the C-295 is produced. No word though if PT DI will be involved in any way as they are also a licensed assembler of the C-295 for the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI). If everything goes as planned, it is expected that the planes will be available to the PAF after 26 months after opening of letter of credit, which will be in 2016. The PAF would be luckier if Airbus Military can deliver earlier as their production of the C-295 is still in full blast.
With the choice of the C-295, it would be interesting to see next what would be the PAF's choice on the future Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft (LRMPA) acquisition project, wherein the a modified C-295 is said to be one of the contenders as well. Although it was confirmed by the DND and PAF sources that the LRMPA project might be US-sourced, it is still possible for the C-295 to steal the show as everything is not yet final on that project.
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