Cessna 208 Caravan
ICAO C208A single-engine utility turboprop used by air forces, police and armed forces worldwide. Live Cessna 208 positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No Cessna 208 Caravan 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
- Textron Aviation
- Role
- Light utility transport and surveillance
- Class
- L1T — Landplane, 1 turboprop engine
- Crew
- 1 to 2
- First flight
- 9 December 1982
- In service
- 1984
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the Cessna 208 Caravan
The Caravan is a simple proposition: one turboprop, a big cabin, fixed undercarriage, and the ability to work from short strips with minimal support. That has made it one of the most widely used utility aircraft in the world, and a great many are in state hands.
Its military career is more serious than the airframe suggests. The AC-208 Combat Caravan is an armed version carrying Hellfire missiles and a sensor turret, sold to Iraq, Lebanon and others for counter-insurgency, and unarmed surveillance versions are used by police and border forces across Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Most airframes on this page will be state operators — military police, border patrol, air forces using it for liaison and light transport.
Callsign prefixes
- POLICE
- Military police and law enforcement operators
- ARMY
- Light military transport flights
How to recognise it
- —A single turboprop with a high wing and fixed undercarriage, and a long, deep cabin.
- —A large ventral cargo pod under the fuselage on many examples.
- —Surveillance versions carry a sensor turret under the nose or forward fuselage.
Common questions
+ What is the AC-208 Combat Caravan?
An armed surveillance version carrying a sensor turret and Hellfire missiles, developed for counter-insurgency and sold to Iraq, Lebanon and other partner air forces.
+ Why do so many state agencies fly the Caravan?
It is cheap to buy and operate, needs very little runway, carries a useful load, and takes sensor and communications fits easily. For patrol and light transport that combination is hard to beat.
+ Is the Caravan a military aircraft?
Not originally — it is a civil utility design. Military and paramilitary versions came later, and most aircraft on this feed are state operators rather than air forces.