India’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) concluded price negotiations and a deal to acquire a total of 62 Airbus Defense and Space C295 tactical medium transport aircraft (MTA) for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).
According IAF sources, MoD’s Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC) concluded consultations with Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) – which is in a joint venture (JV) with Airbus for the MTA programme – to procure the 62 platforms at a cost of about EUR2.8 billion (USD3.15 billion).
The source further added that the aircraft deal would include 56 platforms for the IAF aimed at replacing the service’s ageing fleet of Avro 748M transports, and six for the ICG.
The deal is expected to be signed after a new Indian government assumes office following general elections set to begin on 11 April.
The MTA programme envisages the direct import of 16 C295s and the local assembly/license-building of the remaining 46 aircraft at a facility set up by the JV near Bangalore.
Delivery of the first locally assembled C295 is expected to begin within 60 months of the contract being signed, industry sources said.
According to senior IAF officers, while the IAF’s C295 version will fulfill its requirement for a tactical airlifter, the Indian Coast Guard – ICG, variant is expected to operate as a multi-mission maritime aircraft.
