Airbus and TATA consortium to manufacture C-295 military aircraft in India| Roadsleeper.com

A collaboration between Airbus Defense and Space and TATA Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) will manufacture C-295 military transport aircraft in India for the country’s air force.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ceremonially laid the foundation stone of the aircraft manufacturing facility in Vadodara, Gujarat, India.

Held on 30 October, the ceremony was attended by various dignitaries, including India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.

Modi said, “India is moving forward with the mantra of ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ and now it is becoming a major manufacturer of transport aircraft.

“We aim to scale our defense manufacturing to over $25 billion by 2025. Our defense exports will also exceed $5 billion.”

The $2.65 billion (Rs21,935cr) project will see Airbus deliver the first 16 aircraft in ready-to-fly condition while another 40 units will be manufactured at the Vadodara facility by the consortium, including TASL and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

The consortium will handle the manufacturing of 13,400 parts, approximately 4,600 subassemblies and seven major component assemblies of the C-295 transport aircraft, while Airbus will provide engines, landing gear, avionics and electronic warfare (EW) packages.

The integration of various systems and engines, associated assessments, final flight tests and delivery of the aircraft will be handled by the TATA consortium.

The 16 aircraft will be delivered between September 2023 and August 2025. Delivery of the Indian-made aircraft will start in September 2026.

All aircraft will be equipped with Bharat Electronics and Bharat Dynamics-made EW suite.

More than 125 Indian micro, small and medium enterprise suppliers will also be involved in this project.

Once all 56 aircraft are delivered to the IAF, Airbus will be allowed to sell or export India-made aircraft to civilian operators and to countries approved by the Indian government.