India will purchase 56 C-295 military transport aircraft from Airbus
The Defense Ministry on Friday inked a nearly Rs. 20,000 crore contract with Airbus Defence and Space of Spain to procure 56 C-295 medium transport aircraft which will replace Avro-748 planes of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The long-pending procurement was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security two weeks back. Here are more details.
Sixteen aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition
"Contract signed between #MinistryOfDefence and @AirbusDefence &Space, Spain for procurement of 56 C-295 transport aircraft for the #IAF," Defense Ministry Spokesperson A Bharat Bhushan Babu tweeted. Under the deal, 16 aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition by Airbus Defence and Space within 48 months of signing the contract.
Remaining 40 planes will be manufactured in India
The remaining 40 planes will be manufactured in India by a consortium of the Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) within 10 years of signing the contract, officials said. The C-295 MW aircraft is a transport plane of 5-10 tonne capacity.
All aircraft will be installed with indigenous electronic warfare suite
This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company. "All 56 aircraft will be installed with indigenous electronic warfare suite," the ministry had said on September 8 after the procurement was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security.
Many detail parts are scheduled to be manufactured in India
The in-principle approval for the Avro replacement program was accorded around nine years back. A large number of detail parts, sub-assemblies, and major component assemblies of aerostructure are scheduled to be manufactured in India. The ministry had said that before completion of the deliveries, a servicing facility for C-295 MW aircraft is scheduled to be set up in India.
