On Friday, the Defence Ministry signed up for a nearly Rs 20,000 crore deal with Airbus Defence and Space of Spain to obtain 56 C-295 medium transport aircraft. This is supposed to replace the Avro-748 planes of the Indian Air Force which is ageing.
The long-pending deal was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by PM Modi four weeks ago.
"Contract signed between #MinistryOfDefence and @AirbusDefence &Space, Spain for procurement of 56 C-295 transport aircraft for the #IAF," Defence Ministry spokesperson A Bharat Bhushan Babu announced on Twitter.
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Under the ‘Make In India’ initiative in the aerospace sector, Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) will together execute the project of providing the Air Force with a new transport aircraft.
Under the contract, Airbus Defence and Space will supply India with 16 aircraft in flyaway condition within 48 months of signing the deal. While the remaining 40 planes will be manufactured and assembled in India Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), in between 10 years of signing the contract, sources said.
The C-295 MW plane is a transport aircraft having a capacity of 5-10 tonnes.
The Avro replacement project was in operation for almost a decade and the military aircraft is the first of its kind that will be manufactured in India by a private company.
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"All 56 aircraft will be installed with indigenous electronic warfare suite," On * September, the defence ministry had said after the procurement was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security.
In line, a huge number of parts like detail parts, sub-assemblies and major component assemblies of aerostructure will be mass-produced in India.
The ministry informed that before the deliveries are completed, servicing facilities for the C-295 MW planes will be established in the country.