Singapore Airshow 2022: Indonesia's CN-235 gunship plans delayed by push for aviation biofuel

A model of the gunship variant of the CN-235 that was on display at Singapore Airshow 2020. The model was not displayed at Airshow 2022 given prevailing uncertainties over the programme. (Janes/Ridzwan Rahmat)

Indonesia's plan to develop a gunship variant of the CN-235 twin-engine multi-purpose aircraft has been delayed indefinitely amid a push for the country to commercialise a home-grown aviation biofuel type.

The matter was revealed to Janes by an official from state-owned aerospace company PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) at Singapore Airshow 2022. Notably missing from PTDI's exhibition stand during the show was a model of the CN-235 gunship, which has been displayed at past defence exhibitions.

“We are no longer displaying the gunship because it is unclear when this project will resume,” said the official. “The flying testbed that was supposed to be a platform from which we conduct the firing trials is now involved in pre-commercialisation processes of an Indonesian-developed palm-oil based aviation biofuel known as BioAvtur.”

PTDI acquired a second-hand CN-235 airframe, which was in commercial service with the now-defunct domestic flight operator Merpati Nusantara Airlines, in 2018. The airframe was acquired as a flying testbed from which it can prove out experimental concepts such as the CN-235 gunship.

Igan Satyawati, the company's vice-president for business development and marketing, told Janes at Singapore Airshow 2020 that this flying testbed has been fitted with single-barrelled 30 mm DEFA 553 aircraft cannon on the portside aft of its fuselage for ground firing trials. The weapon was salvaged from a retired Douglas A-4H Skyhawk that was formerly in service with the Indonesian Air Force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Udara: TNI-AU).