India Formalises C-295 Acquisition

Airbus has announced India’s formalisation of the acquisition of 56 Airbus C295 aircraft to replace the Indian Air Force (IAF) legacy AVRO fleet. According to Airbus, this is the first ‘Make in India’ aerospace programme in the private sector, involving the full development of a complete industrial ecosystem. This ranges from the manufacture to assembly, test and qualification, to delivery and maintenance of the complete lifecycle of the aircraft.

In the scope of the contractual agreement, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain. The subsequent 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by the Tata Advanced Systems in India as part of an industrial partnership agreement between the two companies. The first 16 aircraft will be delivered over four years after the contract implementation. All the IAF C295s will be handed over in transport configuration and equipped with an indigenous Electronic Warfare Suite.

JH