On August 2nd, India received the Airbus C-295 military aircraft from Spain, which is the last unit among the 16 aircrafts booked by India. “The transport of C-295 military aircraft from Spain marks a significant step forward in the modernization drive of Indian Airforce”, said the Indian Embassy in Spain.
Indian Ambassador to Spain Dinesh K. Patnaik took delivery of the aircraft along with other senior Airforce officials at Airbus’s Defence and Space Assembly line in Seville, Spain. “The delivery of the C-295 military aircraft, two months ahead of the schedule marks an important milestone in strengthening the defence capabilities of India”, said the Indian Embassy in Spain in its social media post.
Cutting-Edge Features of C-295 Aircraft
- The military transport aircraft has the load capacity of 5-10 tons blended with state-of-the-art technology.
- It is a tactical transport aircraft that has a stellar flight endurance capacity of upto 11 hours with modern avionics.
- Known for its versatility, adaptability in extreme conditions and high-level operational efficiency.
Deal with Spain: A Boost to Defence Indigenization and Technology Transfer
India had signed a contract in September 2021 with the Airbus Defence and Space, an aeronautic company based in Spain. The agreement is to deliver 56 C-295MW military aircraft to India. However, as per the deal, Spain had to deliver 16 aircrafts in the flyaway condition and remaining 40 will be manufactured in India by the Tata Advanced Systems Limited(TASL). Thus, the deal with the Spain regarding C-295 aircraft also gives leverage to the defence indigenization ambition of India and is a symbol of critical and strategic technology transfer.
In this regard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez jointly inaugurated the Tata Aircraft Manufacturing Facility in Vadodara Gujarat. The facility is India’s maiden private sector Final Assembly Line(FAL) with respect to military aircrafts. Apart from final assembling the Tata centre in Vadodara also focuses on defence manufacturing, testing and military aircraft lifecycle maintenance. The visionary and ambitious programme also brings Public Sector Undertakings(PSU’s) such as BEL and BDL into the venture of indigenous defence manufacturing. It also involves many private sector MSMEs in the process.
India-Spain defence collaboration is thus a testimony for credible & timely defence partnership in terms of defence manufacturing and technology transfer. On the other hand the project also gives boost to defence indigenization and public-private partnership in the defence sector, indeed a comprehensive approach and win-win scenario for both the nations and all the stakeholders involved.
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