Brazil has ordered an additional Airbus C295 search and rescue (SAR) aircraft that will eventually take to 15 the number of C295s in service with the Brazilian Air Force (FAB).

This latest order constitutes the conversion of an option under a contract signed in 2014 that included firm orders for two aircraft. The option was firmed up at the end of last year and will therefore be included in the 2017 orderbook.  The three SAR aircraft will serve alongside 12 transport-configured C295s already delivered.

The first of the three SAR aircraft was delivered in August last year, after being displayed at the Paris Air Show and completing a five-week demo tour through four continents before arriving in Brazil.

The second FAB C295 SAR will be delivered in 2019 and the third in 2020. 

The most recent addition to the C295 family is the Armed Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) version unveiled at Dubai Airshow 2017. Airbus now offers two weaponized C295s: the Light Weaponized Variant and the Armed ISR.

More than 200 C295s have now been ordered by 26 countries.