Introduction
India acquired 56 Airbus C295 aircraft in September 2021 to replace the (IAF) legacy AVRO fleet. The first 16 aircraft will be assembled in Seville, Spain, and delivered to the customer in ‘fly-away’ condition. The following 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by the Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies.
Indian Air Force (IAF) crew will carry out acceptance trials of India’s first C295 transport aircraft at the Airbus Defence and Space’s Seville facility in southern Spain in early September before taking delivery of the plane and flying it to the country, setting in motion a crucial Make in India project worth INR 21,935 crore to equip the IAF with 56 such aircraft to modernise its transport fleet.
Airbus C295 specifications
Airbus C295 is a medium tactical transport aircraft powered by 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprop engines and 6-bladed Hamilton Sundstrand HS-568F-5, 3.94 m (12 ft 11 in) diameter composite propellers with auto-feathering and synchro-phasingthat was designed and initially manufactured by the Spanish aerospace company CASA.
Crew: 2
Capacity: 73 troops / 48 paratroops / 12 stretcher intensive care medevac
Maximum payload: 7,050 kg (15,543 lb) normal 9,250 kg (20,393 lb) overload
Length: 24.46 m (80 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 25.81 m (84 ft 8 in)
Height: 8.66 m (28 ft 5 in)
Fuel capacity: 7,650 L (2,020 US gal; 1,680 imp gal) with optional in-flight refuelling probe
Cruise speed: 482 km/h (300 mph, 260 kn) at optimum altitude
Max takeoff weight: 21,000 kg
Range: 1,555 km
Absolute ceiling: 9,145 m (30,003 ft)
The Indian scene
Forty of those planes are to be built in India, and work on domestic production is in full swing. The first aircraft completed its maiden flight in May while the second one is in final assembly at Airbus’s Seville facility and will be delivered to IAF in May 2024. At present, the only final assembly line for the C295 aircraft is located in Seville – it also produces the Airbus A400 aircraft.
The delivery of the first C295 will come two years after the defence ministry signed the contract with Airbus to boost self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector. Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus are jointly executing the programme. Six IAF pilots and 20 technicians have been trained at the Seville facility.
Conclusion
The aircraft project headed by TATA and Airbus in India will surely be a boost for Indian aviation. It will surely bring in a lot of jobs, especially in the engineering sector. Well, time will surely reveal what’s in store. For now, what we can project is an amazing future for the aviation industry in India.
Thankyou for reading. Happy Landings.