BN-2T Defender
ICAO BN2TA small British utility twin used for patrol, surveillance and island hopping. Live BN-2T Defender positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No BN-2T Defender is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Britten-Norman
- Role
- Light utility and surveillance
- Class
- L2T — Landplane, 2 turboprop engines
- Crew
- 1 to 2
- First flight
- 20 June 1965
- In service
- 1967
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the BN-2T Defender
The Islander is one of the most successful British aircraft ever built and one of the least glamorous: a boxy, high-wing twin designed to carry nine people between small islands from very short strips. The turbine-powered BN-2T Defender is its military derivative.
Malta, Belgium, India, Pakistan, Botswana and the British Army have all used it, generally for coastal patrol, surveillance and liaison. The British Army Air Corps operated a small covert surveillance fleet for many years.
It appears here rarely and usually singly, most often as a Maltese patrol aircraft over the central Mediterranean.
Callsign prefixes
- AFM
- Armed Forces of Malta
- ARMY
- British Army Air Corps
How to recognise it
- —A high wing with two engines mounted directly on it and fixed undercarriage.
- —A very square fuselage with doors along the side and a blunt nose.
- —Small, slow and low — this is not an aircraft that hides what it is.
Common questions
+ What is the difference between an Islander and a Defender?
The Defender is the military version, usually turbine-powered as the BN-2T, with provision for surveillance equipment and hardpoints. The Islander is the civil piston aircraft.
+ Who flies the Defender?
Malta, India, Pakistan, Botswana and several police and border agencies. The British Army operated a covert surveillance fleet for many years.
+ Why does it have fixed undercarriage?
Simplicity and cost. The aircraft is slow enough that retractable gear would save little, and fixed legs are more robust on the rough strips it was designed for.