Ahmedabad: European aviation major Airbus and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL), the defense arm of Tatas, will manufacture the C-295 transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Gujarat’s Vadodara.
“For the first time, the C-295 aircraft will be manufactured outside of Europe,” Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar said on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the manufacturing plant of C-295 transport aircraft in Vadodara on 30 October.
This facility will also be manufacturing additional aircraft as per requirements of the IAF and also for exports in the future, Kumar has said.
In September 2021, India sealed a nearly ₹21,000 crore deal with Airbus Defence and Space to procure 56 C-295 transport aircraft to replace the ageing Avro-748 planes of the IAF under a project that entails manufacturing of military aircraft in India for the first time by a private company.
Under the agreement, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain within four years and the subsequent 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by the TASL in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two firms.
The aircraft can airdrop paratroops and loads, and also be used for casualty or medical evacuation. The Airbus C295 is a new-generation tactical airlifter in the light and medium segment.
It is robust and reliable but also highly versatile in terms of the number of different missions it can perform. The C295 conducts multi-role operations worldwide under all weather conditions. It is fully certified and routinely operates day and night in combat missions in all weather extremes, from desert to maritime environments, from extremely hot to extremely cold temperatures.
(Vinayak)