| Britten-Norman Defender | |
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| Defender of the Manchester Police, England | |
| Role | Transport, patrol, reconnaissance |
| Manufacturer | Britten-Norman |
| First flight | May 1970 |
| Developed from | Islander |
The Britten-Norman Defender is a multi-role utility transport aircraft, manufactured by Britten-Norman of Britain. It is the military version of the Britten-Norman Islander, developed for roles such as utility transport, casualty evacuation, counter-insurgency and light attack, forward air control, patrol and reconnaissance.
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Development
First flown in May 1970, the Defender was based on the civilian Islander, and has a larger airframe with four underwing hardpoints for pylons to attach 1134-kg (2,500-lb) of fuel tanks, bombs, missiles, 7.62-mm (0.3-inch) machine-gun pods, rocket pods, flares, sensors and other stores.
The BN2B (piston version) and BN2T (turbine version) are used in military, coastguard, and police operations in several countries.
In 2003 the British Army bought four Defenders, known in service as the Defender AL1 and fitted with under-wing defensive aids dispensers and an electro optical turret under the nose.[1] Since then one other has been converted to Defender AL2 specification and three more Defender AL2s and one Defender T3 trainer have been ordered.
Variants
- Defender
- Multi-role utility transport aircraft.
- Maritime Defender
- Armed maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft.
Specifications
General characteristics
Based on BN2T-4S Defender 4000 Multi-Sensor Surveillance Aircraft version[2]
- Overall Length: 40 ft 4 in (12.2 m)
- Wingspan: 53 ft 0 in (16.15 m)
- Height: 14 ft 3 in (4.3 m)
- Empty: 5,000 lb (2,267 kg)
- Maximum takeoff: 8,500 lb (3,855 kg)
- Powerplant: 2x Allison 250-B17F turboprops
Related content
Related development:
Comparable aircraft:
Designation sequence:
Variants: Islander - Trislander
External links
References
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