C-295 CREATING A MANUFACTURING BLUEPRINT FOR INDIA

With the right momentum, a realistic roadmap and enabling policy framework, a story is being scripted to make India a hub for global aircraft manufacturing. The potential is enormous. An in-depth report.

On October 30, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the ambitious C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing facility at Vadodara in India’s Gujarat state to be set up by Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL). This is the first time a private sector company would be manufacturing a full aircraft in the country. This was a huge step forward for India in the global aircraft manufacturing domain.

Significance of the aircraft

The Airbus C-295 is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was originally designed by the Spanish company CASA in the 1990s as Nurtanio CN-235. CASA joined the European aeronautical group- EADS in 2000. Now designated C-295, it made its first flight on 28 November 1997 and entered service with the Spanish Air Force in 2001. The 9.5 tonnes payload aircraft has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and para dropping of troops and cargo. All 56 aircraft will be installed with indigenous electronic warfare suites. The C-295W is the enhanced performance version with winglets and uprated engines. It is powered by Pratt & Whitney PW-127 engines, a part of the PW100 family. C-295 also has an AEW&C variant among many other roles.

A formidable platform

The C-295MW is a transport aircraft of 5-10 tonne capacity which will replace the legacy Avro aircraft in the Indian Air Force (IAF) procured in the 1960s. The HS-748 Avro fleet is extremely old and it is not unusual for the IAF to continue flying so long past its service life when it has been retired in other air forces. It is currently still used for light transport and liaison purposes but also functions in the cargo transport role as needed as several of the aircraft have large cargo doors which have proven to be useful over the decades.