Source: The post is based on the article “IAF chief takes delivery of first C-295 transport aircraft in Spain” published in The Hindu on 14th September 2023
What is the News?
Indian Air Force(IAF) has received the first C-295 MW transport aircraft from Airbus.
What is a C-295 MW aircraft?
C-295 is a new-generation tactical airlifter in the light and medium segment.
The aircraft will replace the ageing Avro aircraft of the Indian Air Force.
It has been designed and built by Airbus, a European multinational aerospace corporation.
Key Features:
C-295 is capable of carrying up to nine tonnes of payload or as many as 71 troops at a maximum cruise speed of about 480 kilometre.
The aircraft can also be used for air-to-air refuelling of choppers and fixed-wing aircraft.
It can operate from short, soft, rough and unprepared airstrips unlike the Avro.
Besides essentially being a transport aircraft, it can also be modified for intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance with a multi-mission radar that can be weaponized to conduct effective close air support operations.
India-Airbus deal for C295 aircraft:
In 2021, India signed a deal with Airbus Defence and Space to procure 56 C295 aircraft.
Under the agreement, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain within four years and the subsequent 40 aircraft will be manufactured by Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies.
Significance: It is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company.It is also the first time that the C295 aircraft will be manufactured outside of Europe.
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