In September, the IAF will get its first Airbus C295 transport aircraft as the programme ramps up.
According to a report citing Airbus officials with knowledge of the situation, IAF crews will conduct acceptance tests of India’s first C295 transport aircraft at Airbus Defence and Space’s Seville facility in southern Spain in early September before taking receipt of the aircraft.
Airbus will ship the first 16 C295 aircraft from Spain to the IAF in flyaway condition.
According to the article, which cited officials, the remaining forty planes will be produced in India, and work on local production is already well under way.
The first C295 will be delivered to India, starting a significant “Make in India” initiative totaling $21,935 crore to provide the IAF with 56 of these aircraft.
In comparison to the ten years of inertia that the project had to endure before being approved, India’s acquisition of the C295 new generation military transport aircraft will see a fast burst of significant milestones over the coming weeks.
The first of 16 Airbus C295 military transport aircraft will be delivered to the Indian Air Force in September. Airbus is rapidly expanding its partnership with TATA Group in order to build another 40 aircraft at a massive new factory in Vadodara beginning in 2026.
The agreement for 56 aircraft, which India inked in October 2021, is the nation’s first-ever private-sector-led aircraft manufacturing enterprise. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), a state-owned company, now enjoys a complete monopoly on the production of military aircraft.
The Air Force relies heavily on transport aircraft to deliver personnel, equipment, fuel, and weapons over long distances within the nation and abroad. The IAF also uses American C-130J Super Hercules aircraft in the medium category and the enormous C-17 Globemaster III for very huge loads, in addition to the C295, which will handle the lighter end of air transport operations.
An initial group of Indian Air Force pilots has finished flying training and will soon make way for a second phase while the first C295 aircraft are being prepared for delivery. The C295 aircraft will directly replace the IAF’s current British-built HS748 Avros, and the workhorse Ukrainian Antonov An-32s, which the C295 may eventually replace. All Indian pilots are qualified to fly these aircraft.
But considering that the aircraft are being produced by an established, decades-old plant, Airbus will find it simple to construct the first sixteen C295s in Spain. The second part, which involves building 40 aircraft at the Tata site in India for delivery between 2026 and 2031, puts the Airbus crew on alert. The program’s timely, effective, and cost-containment execution makes it one of the most demanding projects Airbus has ever taken on.
According to Jorge Tamarit, manager of the C295 programme in India, “it is unprecedented for Airbus.” “This is the company’s first deployment of a complete manufacturing system to a foreign nation.
Therefore, what is happening in India is far more complicated and important. While Tata started “metal-cutting” for the first of the 40 C295s it is supposed to construct last November, things really pick up next week in Hyderabad when the main constituent assembly (MCA), a group of parts technically referred to as the MCA, starts being unboxed from Tata’s warehouses and assembled to create major components of the airframe, including its tail and fuselage.
Major components of the aircraft will be manufactured and produced by TATA in Hyderabad. These components will then be transported to Vadodara, where each C295 will take on its final shape beginning in late 2024, be outfitted with engines and electronics, and be delivered to the IAF at a maximum rate of 12 aircraft per year.
The C295 fleet will initially be based in Vadodara, while it will unavoidably operate out of a number of air bases. A Bhoomi Pujan ceremony was held in March at the Agra air base for the C295 crew training centre, which will be operational by the end of 2024.
The state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) provided radar and missile warning systems, and Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) provided a countermeasure distribution system, both of which are installed in the IAF C295s being manufactured in Spain. The first aircraft took off on May 8 after these systems had been fully connected, while the second aircraft was completing final assembly. Seven aircraft will be delivered by Airbus in 2024, along with the final eight of its share of
The C295 fleet will initially be based in Vadodara, while it will unavoidably operate out of a number of air bases. A Bhoomi Pujan ceremony was held in March at the Agra air base for the C295 crew training centre, which will be operational by the end of 2024.
The state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) provided radar and missile warning systems, and Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) provided a countermeasure distribution system, both of which are installed in the IAF C295s being manufactured in Spain. The first aircraft took off on May 8 after these systems had been fully connected, while the second aircraft was completing final assembly. Seven aircraft will be delivered by Airbus in 2024, along with the final eight of its share of
Undoubtedly, the Vadodara plant will produce more than 40 C295 aircraft. At least nine and six C295 aircraft, respectively, each adapted for the maritime surveillance mission, are desired by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. Apart from a passenger version of the C295 potentially flowing into a hungry short-haul civil aviation area, the Border Security Force may be on board a few of the aircraft.
Major components of the aircraft will be manufactured and produced by TATA in Hyderabad. These components will then be transported to Vadodara, where each C295 will take on its final shape beginning in late 2024, be outfitted with engines and electronics, and be delivered to the IAF at a maximum rate of 12 aircraft per year. Although the amount of Indian components in the aircraft will increase gradually with each delivery, aircraft No.32 will be the closest to being a wholly Indian C295 overall.
The C295 fleet will initially be based in Vadodara, while it will unavoidably operate out of a number of air bases. A Bhoomi Pujan ceremony was held in March at the Agra air base for the C295 crew training centre, which will be operational by the end of 2024.
The state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) provided radar and missile warning systems, and Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) provided a countermeasure distribution system, both of which are installed in the IAF C295s being manufactured in Spain. The first aircraft took off on May 8 after these systems had been fully connected, while the second aircraft was completing final assembly. Seven aircraft will be delivered by Airbus in 2024, followed by the final eight of its share of the 16 in 2025. The first Made-in-India C295 will be prepared a year later, allowing for what is planned to be a continuous stream of supply until 2023.
Undoubtedly, the Vadodara plant will produce more than 40 C295 aircraft. At least nine and six C295 aircraft, respectively, each adapted for the maritime surveillance mission, are desired by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. Apart from a passenger version of the C295 potentially flowing into a hungry short-haul civil aviation area, the Border Security Force may be on board a few of the aircraft.
“The delivery of 56 aircraft is our main priority. But there is undoubtedly a future after the age of 56. According to Jean-Brice Dumont, executive vice president of Airbus’s military aviation systems division, 56 is both a lot and not a lot.
The C295 project is significant in that it is the first Make-in-India programme with a 30% offset obligation, in addition to satisfying a long-standing IAF need and giving India its first private sector military airframer. Which means that in addition to the required licence manufacturing of the aircraft in India, Airbus also needs to invest or source close to a third of the deal’s worth of Rs 21,935 crore from India. However, given India’s weak handling of offsets thus far in the defence domain, what could seem to be a win-win situation for Indian business is being viewed cautiously.
The C295 programme is a significant boost for India’s aerospace ecosystem, creating 15,000 skilled employment immediately and 10,000 indirect jobs over the following ten years. However, the program’s long-term success will depend on how well offset billions are absorbed and channelled.
