India on Saturday received the last of its 16 Airbus C-295 military transport aircraft from Spain, marking an important milestone in strengthening its defence capabilities, the Indian Embassy in Spain said.
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The C-295, a transport aircraft of 5-10 tonne capacity with contemporary technology, is set to replace the ageing Avro aircraft of the IAF.
Indian Ambassador to Spain Dinesh K Patnaik, along with senior Indian Air Force officials, received the last of the 16 Airbus C-295 military transport aircraft at the Airbus Defence and Space assembly line in Seville, the Indian mission posted on social media.
“The delivery, two months ahead of schedule, marks an important milestone in strengthening India’s defence capabilities,” it added.
The aircraft, with a flight endurance of up to 11 hours, is a versatile and efficient tactical transport aircraft.
India signed a contract with Airbus Defence & Space, Spain, for acquisition of 56 C-295MW transport aircraft for IAF in Sep 2021. Under the C-295 programme, a total of 56 aircraft are to be delivered, of which 16 were to be delivered directly by Airbus from Spain, and the remaining 40 will be manufactured in India.
Spain fulfilled that commitment on Saturday by handing over the last of the 16 aircraft.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez, had jointly inaugurated the TATA Aircraft Complex for manufacturing C-295 aircraft at TATA Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) Campus in Vadodara, Gujarat, in October last year.
TASL is responsible for making these 40 aircraft in India.
This facility becomes the first private sector Final Assembly Line (FAL) for military aircraft in India.
It will involve the full development of a complete ecosystem from the manufacture to assembly, test and qualification, to delivery and maintenance of the complete lifecycle of the aircraft.
Apart from Tatas, leading defence public sector units such as Bharat Electronics Ltd. and Bharat Dynamics Ltd, as well as private Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises will contribute to this programme.
