In A First, Airbus Manufactured in India To Replace Ageing Avros Inducted 60 Years Ago

Sixteen C-295MWs will be delivered in flyaway condition from Spain within 48 months of signing the contract while the Tatas will make 40 of them within 10 years.

Representative Photo

New Delhi:  In a move to replace Indian Air Force planes inducted some 60 years ago, the government cleared a deal with Airbus Defence and Space of Spain to purchase 56 C-295MW transport aircraft on Wednesday.

Cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security, the contract will bring in Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) to jointly execute the project to induct new transport aircraft under the Make-in-India initiative in the aerospace sector.

How’s the upgrade going to enhance military capabilities?

Under the arrangement, the new military transport aircraft will replace the ageing Avros of the Indian Air Force, according to a Press Information Bureau release. The deal is expected to be worth $2.5 billion, according to the Hindustan Times report.

Sixteen C-295MWs will be delivered in flyaway condition from Spain within 48 months of signing the contract while the Tatas will make 40 of them within 10 years.

"This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company," it said. With 5-10 tonne capacity, the C-295MW boasts of contemporary technology with a rear ramp door for quick reaction and para dropping of troops and cargo. 

The programme will act as a catalyst in employment generation in the aerospace ecosystem of the country and is expected to generate 600 highly skilled jobs directly, 

The old aircraft Avro, likely to be replaced is a twin-engine turboprop, military transport and freighter of British origin. Inducted into the Indian Air Force in the early 1960s, the aircraft has a capacity of 48 paratroopers or six tonnes of freight with a max cruise speed of 452 kilometres per hour.

"All 56 C-295MWs will be installed with indigenous Electronic Warfare Suite. The project will give a boost to the aerospace ecosystem in India Warfare Suite," the release said.