Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Indian Air Force - Tender for Medium-Lift Transport Aircraft

European consortium Airbus is looking to bid with C-295 Aircraft for the Rs 12,000 crore global tender to be floated by India for procuring 56 Medium-Lift Transport Aircraft to replace its entire fleet of vintage Avro planes. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by defence minister A K Antony had in July last year cleared a proposal to procure 56 transport aircraft. The tender, though, is yet to be floated. 



EADS CASA C-295 of Ghana Air Force ( Image Courtesy - shephardmedia.com )

The first 16 transport aircraft, according to the proposal cleared by the DAC, will be procured off-the-shelf from foreign vendors who will have to partner with a local private or public sector firm. The next 16 aircraft will have to have 30 per cent indigenous component while the remaining 24 planes will have 60 per cent locally-procured and produced items. 

Making a strong case for C-295 and its efficacy in Indian Air Force, head of marketing of light and medium transport of Airbus Military Jeronimo Amador vouched for the aircraft's fuel efficiency and the total life cycle cost. Talking to reporters at the Airbus facilities here, he said the aircraft has been sold to 17 operators so far with six countries coming with repeat orders. He said the aircraft can fulfil logistics need for a large country like India with 1500 nautical mile range from New Delhi.


News Courtesy - timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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