The Tata-Airbus project worth Rs 21,935 crore to supply the IAF with 56 twin-turboprop C-295 military transport aircraft is set to grow even larger. The defence ministry is now planning to buy another 15 of these planes for the Navy and Coast Guard.
According to sources, the plan is to modify nine C-295s for the Navy and six for the Coast Guard and outfit them with multi-mode radars, electro-optic cameras and sonobuoys for high-sea surveillance missions.
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Airbus Defence and Space (Spain) will modify the first two planes for maritime use. The remainder will be built at the Tata-Airbus facility in Vadodara, Gujarat, with the DRDO overseeing the overall project to equip them as medium-range maritime reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft.
According to the sources, the Rajnath Singh-led Defence Acquisitions Council will soon take up the grant of acceptance of necessity (AoN) for the 15-aircraft project, which could cost around Rs 18,000 crore. Both the Navy and the Coast Guard have been looking for new MRMR aircraft to ensure that the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) can be patrolled more effectively to detect both conventional and terrorist threats in a timely manner.
The Navy currently has 12 P-8I aircraft for long-range reconnaissance missions, purchased from the US for USD 3.2 billion. The P-8Is are equipped with radars and sensors, Harpoon Block-II missiles, MK-54 lightweight torpedoes, rockets and depth charges and are designed primarily for hunting enemy submarines.
The P-8Is and two unarmed Sea Guardian drones leased from US firm General Atomics patrol the outermost layer of the three-tier maritime surveillance grid. “The 15 MRMR aircraft, which have a flight endurance of up to 11 hours, will be used in the IOR alongside the Dornier-228 fleet for medium-range missions,” a source said.
While India’s primary strategic interest spans the Persian Gulf to the Malacca Strait, it also has a massive 5,422-kilometre coastline, 1,197 islands and two million square kilometres of EEZ to protect itself from threats.
The induction of these planes between 2023 and 2031 will strengthen the IAF’s tactical airlift capability along the Chinese border. This is the first time in India that a military aircraft will be produced by the private sector, breaking the virtual monopoly held by defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics for decades.
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