When France and Germany needed a new military transport aircraft to replace the Nor­atlas they joined forces, or better the manufacturers MBB, Aerospa­tiale, and VFW-Fokker. They formed the Transporter Allianz consortium, or Transall in short. 

The C-160 which they designed is a high wing aircraft about the size of a Lockheed Her­cules. Like the C-130 the C-160 has a large wingspan, an upsloped rear fuselage with loading ramp and a conventional tail. The vertical stabiliser has a slightly tapered rectan­gu­lar shape, and a large dorsal fin in front. Under the wings hang two turboprop engines. These have ring shaped intakes (around the prop spinner) and an exhaust at the back of the nacelle.
The main gear consists of two sets of double wheels on each side, retracting in pods at the side of the fuselage. The nose gear has two wheels. There aren't as many cockpit windows as on contemporary air­craft, but still seven all around, without eyebrow or feet windows.

The different versions of the Transall C-160 can be distinguished by looking at:

• the presence of a refuelling boom op top of the cockpit
• the presence of a cargo door in the left forward fuselage
• the presence on many antennas on top of the fuselage and at the wingtips
• the presence of orange cones in the tailcone and below the rear loading ramp 

The prototypes (C-160), pre-production (C-160A) and German, French and South African production versions (C-160D, C-160F and C-160Z respectively) are externally the same, as are the conversions for the French postal services (C-160P). They all have a large cargo door in the left forward fuselage and no means for air-to-air-refuelling.

The electronic reconnaissance of the French air force, C-160G, is easily to distinguish because of the many antennas fitted to the aircraft, both on top of the fuselage and at wing tips. Like the C-160H, NG and R, the C-160G has a refuelling boom above the cockpit.

Used for relaying communications to and from French submarines, the C-160H Assarté version has long cable antennas that can be rolled out from the tail cone and below the rear loading ramp. When stowed, the orange conical ends are still visible. The C-160H also has a refuelling boom above the cockpit, like the C-160NG and C-160R.

When the French military needed a second batch of aircraft, they chose an upgraded version, dubbed C-160NG (Nouvelle Generation, or New Generation). It has a refuelling boom above the cockpit as main recognition point. Additionaly, the large cargo door in the left forward fuselage was removed.

C-160R is the designation for a C-160F (so from the first production run) that has been converted with the same modifications as the C-160NG. Externally, they are the same.