Airbus Defence teams with Tata for Indian Air Force bid

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Airbus C-295

     Airbus Defence and Space has announced it is teaming up with Tata Advanced Systems to bid to replace the Indian air force’s ageing fleet of small tactical transport aircraft with the Airbus C295 twin-turboprop medium airlifter. The main competitor is for the bid is Alenia Aermacchi with its C27J Spartan.

If the C295 were to be chosen for the contract, Tata Advanced Systems would be the Indian production agency for the project, which entails replacing a fleet of 56 severely ageing British Aerospace Avro 748s.
Airbus says it would supply the first 16 aircraft "in flyaway condition from its own final assembly line", and the remaining 40 would be manufactured and assembled by Tata Advanced in India. Airbus explains: "This will include undertaking structural assembly, final aircraft assembly, systems integration and testing, and management of the indigenous supply chain."

Domingo Ureña Raso, Airbus Defence and Space executive vice-president for military aircraft, says: “We firmly believe that in the C295 we have clearly the best aircraft to replace the IAF Avro fleet, and in Tata Advanced Systems we have secured the cream of the Indian private aerospace sector as our partner for this project."

Tata Advanced Systems chairman S. Ramadorai says: “We are extremely pleased to announce our partnership with Airbus Defence and Space for the Avro replacement programme for the Indian air force. It is a landmark for the development of aircraft manufacturing capability in India, now that Tata Advanced Systems is poised to take this step toward building entire aircraft in India. The selection of Tata Advanced Systems by Airbus demonstrates the confidence that has been built in our ability to undertake this complex programme.”

Embraer rolls out KC-390 military transport aircraft in Brazil amid huge fanfare

The first completed prototype of the Embraer KC-390 military transport aircraft 
rolled out of the company’s Gavião Peixoto, Brazil, production facility on 21 October.

Embraer can now begin ground testing in preparation for first flight, which the
 company maintains will occur before the end of the year. The example is the first of 
two that will be used for ground and flight testing and in the certification process.

The aircraft was developed in concert with the Brazilian Air Force, which is 
contracted to receive at least 28 of the type starting in 2016. Another five
 nations have signed letters of intent to purchase a total 32 additional KC-390s.

IAF aircraft C-130J Super Hercules crashes near Gwalior, 5 killed

IAF LM C-130J Super Hercules

NEW DELHI: A recently acquired C-130J transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed 72 miles west of Gwalior airbase on Friday morning, killing at least five personnel on board.

The IAF has no official word yet on how many personnel were aboard the aircraft.

The crash of the four-engine US made aircraft has baffled experienced pilots, given its safety records and extreme agility. One senior air force pilot said the accident was "bizarre", and speculated that either the crew was incapacitated or a fire broke out aboard the plane.


Rescue operations are underway at the crash site, air force sources said. "The aircraft was airborne from Agra at 10am for a routine flying training mission. A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate into the cause of the accident," the IAF said in a statement.

The crash took place in Karauli district in Rajasthan, some 72 miles from Gwalior, where it was due to land.

The IAF started inducting C-130J in February 2011 and has half a dozen of them in service. It is also set to induct another six of them.

The C-130J is among the most agile aircraft in service today, and has an impressive safety record. The transport aircraft is meant for an array of operations including movement of Special Forces, and difficult landings. It was highly effective in rescue operations in Uttarakhand after the flash floods, and has proven its capability to carry out landings on remote airstrips close to China border. Both these have exhibited the flexibility and capability of the American aircraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Starting its history sometime in the 1950s with the US military, C-130 is among the world's most recognizable military aircraft that has participated in numerous military campaigns and in service with several militaries.

Though several C-130s have crashed during Vietnam war, the aircraft is reputed for its reliability. Last time South Asia saw a C-130 crash was when a C-130 aircraft of the Pakistan air force carrying Pakistani dictator General Zia-ul-Haq and the US ambassador Arnold Lewis Raphel were killed when it crashed on August 17, 1988.

India to buy 6 more C-130J ‘Super Hercules’ aircraft

The Defence Ministry today gave its nod for purchase of six more C-130J "Super Hercules" aircraft from the US in a deal worth over Rs 4,000 crore.

The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister A K Antony cleared the deal and it will now go to Cabinet Committee on Security for the final approval, sources said.


The DAC also cleared a proposal for placing an order for 235 T-90 tanks worth Rs 6,000 crore with the Ordnance Factory Board. These battle tanks would be manufactured under the Transfer-of-Technology agreement India has signed with Russia.

The Indian Air Force already has six C-130J planes, which it had acquired at a cost of around 1.06 billion USD and are deployed at its Hindon airbase.

The new lot of six planes will be located at Panagarh in West Bengal, which would be headquarters of the proposed Mountain Strike Corps of the army along the China border.

The CCS had cleared the army's proposal for raising the Corps, which is expected to cost Rs 62,000 crore, in its meeting on July 17.

Like the first lot, the purchase of six more aircraft will be through the foreign military sales route between India and the US governments.

The aircraft is capable of airdropping commandos and material in darkness due to its night-vision imaging. It can prove very handy in wartime due to its ability for special air operations and transport of material and supplies.

During peacetime, it can be used in mountainous terrain in hostile circumstances. The four-engine plane with Rolls Royce engines has the technology and configuration to perform low-level precision flying.

It was recently used in rescue operations in flood-hit Uttarakhand.

India launches Rs 13,000 crore IAF aircraft project involving private sector

Indian AirForce Avro

     India has kick-started another mega defence project by floating the global tender for the over Rs 13,000-crore acquisition of 56 transport aircraft to replace the ageing Avro fleet of IAF. The project, under which the first 16 aircraft will be bought off-the-shelf and the rest 40 will be manufactured in India, breaks new ground by specifying that the foreign aviation major eventually selected will have to tie-up with an Indian private sector company to produce the planes. 

       Defence PSU, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which has a virtual monopoly in the military aviation arena, is being kept out of this project. The tender, or request for proposal (RFP), was issued to eight aviation majors — Embraer, Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Ilyushin, Casa, Saab and Alenia Aeronuatica — on Wednesday. Incidentally, Alenia Aeronautica is part of the Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, which is facing charges of paying bribes to swing the Rs 3,546-crore contract to supply 12 VVIP helicopters to India in favour of its UK-based subsidiary, AgustaWestland.
Read more at: TimesofIndia