New Delhi, 12 May (H.S.): Tata Advanced Systems Limited has completed the first C‑295 aircraft on the Final Assembly Line in Vadodara, Gujarat, in collaboration with the French company Airbus. This is the first military aircraft for the Indian Air Force assembled in India, fully in line with the government’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative. It is also the first time that a private Indian company has established and operated a complete military‑aircraft final‑assembly line within the country.

The project is being carried out under the 56‑aircraft transport deal worth ₹21,935 crore signed in 2021 for the Indian Air Force, in partnership with the French firm Airbus. The contract with Airbus Defence and Space, finalised on 24 September 2021, covers 56 C‑295 military transport aircraft. The first C‑295, assembled in Spain, has already been delivered to the Indian Air Force under the same agreement. That first aircraft landed at the Air Force Station in Vadodara on 20 September 2023 and was later formally inducted into the IAF’s transport fleet by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at Hindon Airbase on 25 September.

The first C‑295 military transport aircraft built for the Indian Air Force in Spain was handed over by Airbus on 13 September to then Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhary, in Seville, Spain. On the same day, the Air Chief pilot‑flew the aircraft in Spain to test its capabilities. Under the agreement, Airbus is to supply 16 aircraft built in Spain in ‘fly‑away’ condition, while the remaining 40 will be manufactured by the Tata Consortium in India over the next ten years. All 40 India‑made aircraft are expected to be delivered by August 2031. Aircraft components are first assembled in the main systems assembly facility in Hyderabad and then integrated on the final‑assembly line at the Vadodara plant.

Key features of the C‑295 military transport aircraft

The C‑295 is operated by a crew of two and can carry 73 troops, or 48 paratroopers, or 12 stretchers with intensive‑care medical evacuation capability, or 27 stretchers with medical evacuation kits and four medical attendants. It can carry a maximum payload of up to 9,250 kilograms. The aircraft has a maximum speed of 482 kilometres per hour and can fly up to 13,533 feet in altitude. It requires a runway between 844 and 934 metres for take‑off and only 420 metres for landing. The aircraft is equipped with six hard‑points—three under each wing—for weapons and defensive systems, enabling the mounting of up to 800 kilograms of ordnance or self‑defence counter‑measure systems.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar