Morocco Quietly Takes Delivery of a Second Airbus C295 Transport
The Royal Moroccan Air Force has received a second C295 tactical transport aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space, under a contract whose terms have not been made public. The aircraft landed at Kenitra Air Base, north of Rabat.
According to Spanish defense outlet Infodefensa, the second aircraft, manufacturer number MSN 254, was also assembled at Airbus’s Seville plant. The first C295, tail code CN-AMT and serial 253, was photographed in Seville in May and was tracked flying from Spain to Kenitra in September via ADS-B Exchange flight-tracking data. Thirty-five days separated the two deliveries.
The first aircraft was put on static display at the Marrakesh Air Show in early October, nine days after it arrived. Moroccan outlet Barlamane reported that the second aircraft’s delivery took place roughly a week before this report. An earlier account from Silicon Valley Maroc said Morocco had requested “two or four” C295s to reinforce its tactical airlift fleet, though the total order size remains unconfirmed.
The C295 is a multirole tactical transport that Airbus introduced in 2001 as an evolution of the CN235. Its 12.7-meter cargo bay can carry 71 paratroopers or allow the airdrop of five large or ten small pallets. The aircraft has a maximum cruise speed of 260 knots (about 480 km/h) and a maximum takeoff weight of 23.2 tonnes. It is used for humanitarian relief, rapid troop deployment, maritime surveillance and border security, and can operate from unprepared airstrips while supporting medical evacuation with basic or mobile intensive-care stretchers.
Airbus also builds the C295 in airborne early warning and control (AEW&C), intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance (ISR), firefighting tanker and gunship configurations. A 2019 upgrade package added new cabin, exterior and ISR equipment. The C295 family is in service with more than 40 operators worldwide, including Spain, Portugal, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, India and Colombia. A 56-aircraft contract with India, which includes local production, remains the program’s largest recent deal.
Regional rival Algeria has also recently become a C295 customer. The Spanish government approved the sale of eight C295s to Algeria last year, a contract valued at 385 million euros, a figure that emerged after Spain’s Secretariat of State for Trade published its latest dual-use export statistics. The Morocco-Algeria procurement rivalry continues to be one of the most visible expressions of the long-running tension between the two neighbours over the Western Sahara dispute and their shared border.
Morocco’s push to expand tactical airlift capacity fits into a broader modernization drive. Rabat is upgrading its F-16 fleet to the Viper standard, acquiring AH-64E Apache helicopters, and has bought 50 additional Oshkosh HET A1 heavy transporters to move its M1 Abrams tanks. It is also reportedly reconsidering a purchase of retired US KC-10 tankers it had previously passed on.
The fact that Rabat kept the C295 acquisition largely under wraps illustrates how discreetly some regional procurement moves are being carried out: the aircraft’s existence became public through flight-tracking data and local press reporting rather than an official statement.
Sources
- Infodefensa, “Marruecos recibe un segundo avión de transporte militar C295 fabricado en Sevilla de su sigilosa compra a Airbus,” Ginés Soriano, November 10, 2026 — original source for delivery dates and aircraft details.
