Civil-military Lus-222 will be ready for maiden flight in 2028
Five years – and various tweaks – after its beginnings were trailed, the first totally made in Portugal aircraft has been officially ‘presented’ at the LAAD Defence & Security fair, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Dubbed LUS-222 (a change from the original ATL-100) the twin-engine high-wing plane with a rear cargo door is a joint venture between CEiiA (the Centre for Engineering and Product Development) based in Évora, the Portuguese Air Force and Portuguese company Geosat.
The project’s developers say the aircraft will have the capacity to carry 19 passengers and up to two tonnes of cargo, and be able to operate in military missions, search and rescue missions and also in regional commercial aviation.
LUS-222 will have a range of up to 2,100 kms and be able to reach speeds of up to 370 kms per hour.
João Cartaxo Alves, Chief of Staff of the Portuguese Air Force, explains that the Air Force joined the project because it saw how useful the plane could be in “certain fundamental missions” where the process of landing and taking off is conditioned. The beauty of this plane is that it can land on “unprepared, unpaved and very short runways”.
With an investment of €220 million, which includes the construction of a factory in Ponte de Sor capable of producing 12 planes a year in one shift and 20 in two shifts, the project is financed by national and European public funds, through support from the government, equity from the company’s shareholders and private investment funds.
Why present LUS-222 in Brazil?
Miguel Braga, director of CEiiA’s aeronautic and defence arm Aircraft and Maintenance – the company that will build, industrialise and market the plane – points out that the aircraft’s landing ability suits much of the natural terrain in Brazil, while the Brazilian Air Force wants to renew its fleet of 60 Bandeirantes, which are coming to the end of their lifespan.
Added to this, the partnership between Brazil and Portugal in the Defence and Aviation segment has a good track record (the Portuguese Air Force helped develop some of the capabilities of Embraer’s ‘Supertucanos’). Indeed, even in this new plane, Brazilian company Akaer will be involved in designing the wings and the fuselage, said João Cartaxo Alves, concluding “there is a virtuous partnership” here.
When it was first trailed in 2020, the date projected for this plane’s maiden flight was 2025. ND
Source: Lusa
