Tata-Airbus C295 Plant: Vadodara, India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez Monday jointly inaugurated India’s first private military production facility in Vadodara in Western State of Gujarat. This Tata-Airbus joint facility has been built in collaboration with European defence and aerospace giant Airbus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for this aircraft production facility in October 2022.
India is acquiring 56 C295 medium military transport aircraft from Airbus for Indian Air Force.
The flagship project in the aviation sector is being set up by Tata Advanced Systems in collaboration with Airbus Spain under the “Make in India” initiative. It is likely to give a major boost to India’s aviation sector, which has been facing challenges over the last many years.
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India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inducted 1st Airbus C-295 MW in IAF in Ghaziabad near New Delhi.
Tata-Airbus C295 Production Facility in Vadodara, Gujarat
The C295 program for India was formalised in September 2021 to acquire 56 Airbus C295 aircraft to replace the Indian Air Force (IAF) legacy AVRO fleet. Subsequently, India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Airbus Defence & Space of Spain signed a contract valued at $2.5 billion for the supply of 56 aircraft. Once the delivery and assembly of the fleet are complete, India will have the largest customer/fleet for Airbus DS, Spain, on the C295 aircraft.
Under the contractual agreement, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain. The first of 16 aircraft was delivered to the IAF from Spain in September 2023. Six aircraft have already been delivered to the Indian Air Force from Spain.
Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. is the Indian Aircraft Contractor, responsible for making 40 out of the 56 aircraft in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies. The Final Assembly Line (FAL) plant in Vadodara will roll out the first Made in India C295 aircraft in 2026.
IAF C295 MW aircraft.
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The first ‘Make in India’ C295 will roll out of the Vadodara FAL in 2026. The 56th aircraft is expected to be delivered to the IAF by 2031.
TASL will provide support for fleet maintenance (MRO) to IAF for more than 25 years post-induction of the aircraft. The future variants of C295 will also be adapted for other services (Navy and Coast Guard). This is already in the advanced stages of discussions.
Additionally, work is being undertaken in using Indian engineering capabilities to digitise the engineering to the latest standards.
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IAF’s Airbus C295 Aircraft
The C295 aircraft is used for tactical transport of up to 71 troops or 50 paratroopers and logistic operations to locations that are not accessible to current heavier aircraft. It has a proven capability of operating from short or unprepared airstrips.
The aircraft can airdrop paratroops and loads and also be used for casualty or medical evacuation (medevac), as demonstrated during the COVID-19 crisis, using either basic litters or mobile intensive care units (ICU) with life support equipment. The C295 can perform special missions as well as disaster response and maritime patrol duties.
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