NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal AK Bharti will on Friday review the progress of the C295 transport aircraft programme as the Indian Air Force (IAF) gears up to receive the first Made-in-India aircraft in the next few months, officials aware of the matter said on Thursday.
Bharti will on Friday visit the Tata Aircraft Complex in Vadodara where 40 C295s will be assembled over the next five years, marking a watershed in the country’s private sector that is producing a military plane for the first time, said an official cited above.
In September 2021, the defence ministry signed a ₹21,935-crore contract with Airbus for 56 planes to boost self-reliance in defence. Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus are jointly executing the programme. The European plane maker has delivered 16 planes to the IAF in flyaway condition under the project, while the rest are being assembled in India.
The first aircraft is ready and will begin flight tests in June before it is delivered to the air force in September, said a second official. “The programme is on track and the delivery of all 39 planes will be completed by August 2031.”
The planes will boost the air force’s logistics capabilities to meet mission requirements in forward areas, including those near the contested border with China, and replace its ageing fleet of Avro transport aircraft that entered service in the early 1960s.
{{/usCountry}}The planes will boost the air force’s logistics capabilities to meet mission requirements in forward areas, including those near the contested border with China, and replace its ageing fleet of Avro transport aircraft that entered service in the early 1960s.
{{/usCountry}}In October 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Vadodara manufacturing facility. The IAF will be the world’s largest operator of the C295.
Under the C295 India programme, the country is manufacturing more than 13,000 parts, 4,600 sub-assemblies and all major component assemblies. But equipment such as engines, landing gear and avionics is being provided by Airbus, and integrated on the aircraft. The tactical airlifter is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW127G turboprop engines.
The aircraft can carry up to nine tonnes of payload or 71 personnel or 45 paratroopers and has a maximum speed of 480 kmph. It can operate from short or unprepared airstrips and has a rear ramp for para dropping troops and cargo.
Airbus is also setting up a production line for the H125 helicopters in partnership with TASL at Vemagal in Karnataka, the fourth such facility in the world and India’s first helicopter final assembly line in the private sector.
The first H125 is expected to roll out of the facility in early 2027, and the choppers built in India will be exported to south Asian countries too. Airbus has projected a demand for 500 light helicopters of the H125 class in the country and south Asia during the next 20 years.
The 2.8-tonne H125 can carry up to six passengers, fly at a maximum altitude of 23,000 feet, has a range of 630 km and a top speed of 250 kmph. The roles it is suited for include commercial transport, law enforcement, emergency medical services, disaster management, offshore industry and firefighting. There are plans to assemble the military version H125M also in India.
These helicopters are currently produced only in France, the US and Brazil.
At the Indian final assembly line, TASL will handle major component assemblies, avionics and mission systems, flight controls, hydraulic circuits, the fuel system and the engine, with support and guidance from Airbus Helicopters, including training Indian personnel in France. The H125’s engine and gearbox will come from France, the main airframe (supplied by Mahindra) from Germany, and the tail boom from Spain.