Airbus to deliver 1st C-295 aircraft to IAF on Sept 13

The Indian Air Force (IAF) will receive the delivery of its first C-295 transport aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space at Seville in Spain on September 13, with the ceremony expected to be attended by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, officials aware of the matter said on Thursday, asking not to be named.

- Rahul Singh

 

This aircraft is the first of the 56 such planes ordered by IAF under a ₹21,935-crore project to modernise its transport fleet. The European plane maker will deliver the first 16 planes in flyaway condition, while the rest will be assembled in India at a Tata facility in Gujarat’s Vadodara.

The delivery of the first C-295 will come two years after the defence ministry signed a contract with Airbus for 56 planes to boost self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector. Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus are jointly executing the programme.

IAF’s second C-295 is in final assembly at Airbus’s Seville facility and will be delivered in May 2024, the officials said. The last of the 16 flyaway aircraft will be delivered to IAF by August 2025, while the first “made in India” C-295 will roll out of the Vadodara facility in September 2026 and the remaining 39 by August 2031.