C-14 Argus
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| Type: | Heavy transport aircraft |
| Manufacturer: |  Kalavia Fixed-Wing Works (Sansabury Aerodrome)
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| Operator |  Benacia Command
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| Quantity | 337 (planned, 1745 AN) |
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| Ferry Range | 3,300 km |
| Maximum Speed | 323 kmph |
| Altitude Ceiling | 6,000 m |
| Minimum Required Runway | |
| Maximum Payload Weight | 12,000 kg |
| Armament | |
The C-14 Argus is a six-engined propeller driven heavy transport aircraft developed by Benacia Command to provide a strategic airlift capability whilst minimising the use of strategic materials in its manufacture. Whilst the limited range of the finished design would prove a disappointment to the sponsors of the programme, the decision was made to continue with the design and take it into production in order to bulk out the numbers of cargo transport aircraft reported to higher authority.
Development
The C-14 Argus was the result of a 1730 AN Benacia Command requirement for a large assault transport in preparation for a projected intervention of the Sathrati Emergency.
However, in order to stage a meaningful intervention in the Shirerithian campaign against Sathrati, Benacia Command would need to be able to airlift vehicles and other heavy equipment as part of an initial assault wave across a significant body of water. Although the intervention was cancelled in 1732 AN, the requirement for a heavy air transport capability remained, with the focus shifting to the forthcoming continental war against the Imperial Republic.
Kalavia Fixed-Wing Works of Kalgachia was duly directed by Benacia Command to dispatch a design team to Sansabury aerodrome in the tenth month of 1732 AN to commence begin working the previous development studies into a viable prototype.
Iterative improvements made to successive prototypes during pre-production testing produced a threefold increase in the maximum range of the Argus, albeit the airspeed and altitude ceiling remained comparatively mediocre. Nonetheless the improvements were sufficient to garner the Argus an order for four hundred units from Nouvelle Alexandrie in 1741. For practical reasons of capacity, the order would be fulfilled by a licenced production run undertaken by Javelin Industries which renamed the type as the "Titan".
Hearing word of this, the Imperial Constancian Air Force likewise provided an order for an initial 20 aircraft, also via Javelin Industries.
