New Delhi [India]: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the Tata Advanced Systems Ltd’s (TASL’s) final assembly line facility for the C295 aircraft in Vadodara, Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor (Retd) on Sunday said that by 2030 the Indigenous component will increase to 78 per cent which will help the Air Force improve in a way.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat on Monday, where he along with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez will jointly inaugurate the TATA Aircraft Complex for manufacturing C-295 aircraft.
Speaking to ANI, Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor (Retd) in the national capital on Sunday said that the deal was signed in September 2021 with Airbus.
“The Spanish company CASA has been overtaken by Airbus…56 aircraft were agreed by the government as replacements for HS 748 Avro aircraft. The agreement so stipulates that 16 aircraft will come in the fly-away condition and the rest 40 will be manufactured here. Six aircraft have already arrived…The remaining aircraft will join us by the middle of next year…
The best part is the creation of an ecosystem to develop the industry to increase the indigenous portion of the remaining 40 aircraft…37 industrial partners have been shortlisted by Airbus to support their program in Baroda…It is envisaged that by 2030 the indigenous component will increase to 78%…The increase in the Indigenous component will help the Air Force improve in a way as we will not be dependent on OEM or any other agency to provide us with service or space for that matter,” the Air Marshal said.
He further said that the aircraft (Airbus C295) could carry about 50 paratroopers, and 72 troops and could lift about 7.5 tons of load.
“This is much better than the AN32 (Antonov An-32 aircraft) performance…The best part and the difference which will help the services is that in the Avros, the getting in and getting out is from the side doors like any commercial aeroplane, but here in C295 there is a ramp. So getting in and getting out of things, loading equipment, para assault landing, short field landing, high altitude operations, valley flying, and rescue becomes very easy,” he said.
“The ambitious program of PM Modi wherein the UDAN scheme is linking the small and austere airfields in the far-flung areas of island territories Andaman, Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Northeast and high altitudes. We would need a platform which has this capability. So C295 aeroplane can land in short strips as short as about 3,000ft,” he added.
Tata Advanced Systems Ltd is responsible for making these 40 aircraft in India. This facility will be 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.