CONNAN
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NEW DELHI — A reassessment of Air Force priorities has jeopardized India's first effort to produce military aircraft in the domestic private sector.
The US $3.5 billion program would have replaced aging Avro transport aircraft, a tender for which was issued in 2013, but new Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar has urged that weapon purchases be prioritized because major hikes in defense spending are not expected in the near future, said a Defence Ministry source.
The government decided in July 2014 that the tender should be reserved for domestic private sector companies as production partners and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) was excluded from the program. Only Airbus Defence and Space, proposing the C-295 in a tie up with domestic private sector major Tata Advanced Systems, has filed a bid for the program.
The Avro replacement tender invites foreign vendors to identify an Indian private sector partner, supply 16 aircraft made abroad and manufacture 40 at a facility set up in India with the local partner.
Ukraine's Antonov Design Bureau, which had earlier evinced interest in the program, did not file a bid because the company cannot transfer technology as the majority of the systems are sourced from Russia's Voronezh Aircraft Production Association. Moscow has stopped export of these technologies to the Ukrainian company in the wake of political developments there, according to a Defence Ministry source.
"Airbus had tied up with [Tata] for the Avro tender with the hope that they would together draw major plans to join hands in the aero market, including joint production of a variety of helicopters" said an executive of the Tata group. "All future plans in the aerospace sector are now put on the shelf again," the executive added.
As the Air Force reassesses its needs, the Avro replacement is likely to be given a low priority and the project may be put on hold, the MoD source added.
No Air Force official would publicly comment on the priority list under preparation, but an Air Force source said one reason that buying aircraft to replace the Avros could be viewed as a low priority is because India is negotiating joint production and development of medium transport aircraft with Russia's United Aircraft Corp. (UAC). It has also purchased US transports.
"India has procured the US-made C-17s and C-130Js to satisfy its transport requirements. Although these aircraft come under the heavy-lift category, for now they have reduced the operational exigency of procuring new transport aircraft, which may also be why India has been dragging its feet on the Airbus C-295 and transport aircraft program," said another Air Force officer.
In addition to the US transport planes, the Indian Air Force uses Russian-made AN-32s and IL-76s. Russia's UAC and India's HAL have established the Multirole Transport Aircraft Ltd. as a joint venture for the proposed medium transport aircraft, but a final production agreement has not been signed.
The program envisages production of a 20-ton cargo plane capable of ferrying 80 troops together with infantry fighting vehicles
Indian AF Transport Program Hits Hurdle
The US $3.5 billion program would have replaced aging Avro transport aircraft, a tender for which was issued in 2013, but new Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar has urged that weapon purchases be prioritized because major hikes in defense spending are not expected in the near future, said a Defence Ministry source.
The government decided in July 2014 that the tender should be reserved for domestic private sector companies as production partners and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) was excluded from the program. Only Airbus Defence and Space, proposing the C-295 in a tie up with domestic private sector major Tata Advanced Systems, has filed a bid for the program.
The Avro replacement tender invites foreign vendors to identify an Indian private sector partner, supply 16 aircraft made abroad and manufacture 40 at a facility set up in India with the local partner.
Ukraine's Antonov Design Bureau, which had earlier evinced interest in the program, did not file a bid because the company cannot transfer technology as the majority of the systems are sourced from Russia's Voronezh Aircraft Production Association. Moscow has stopped export of these technologies to the Ukrainian company in the wake of political developments there, according to a Defence Ministry source.
"Airbus had tied up with [Tata] for the Avro tender with the hope that they would together draw major plans to join hands in the aero market, including joint production of a variety of helicopters" said an executive of the Tata group. "All future plans in the aerospace sector are now put on the shelf again," the executive added.
As the Air Force reassesses its needs, the Avro replacement is likely to be given a low priority and the project may be put on hold, the MoD source added.
No Air Force official would publicly comment on the priority list under preparation, but an Air Force source said one reason that buying aircraft to replace the Avros could be viewed as a low priority is because India is negotiating joint production and development of medium transport aircraft with Russia's United Aircraft Corp. (UAC). It has also purchased US transports.
"India has procured the US-made C-17s and C-130Js to satisfy its transport requirements. Although these aircraft come under the heavy-lift category, for now they have reduced the operational exigency of procuring new transport aircraft, which may also be why India has been dragging its feet on the Airbus C-295 and transport aircraft program," said another Air Force officer.
In addition to the US transport planes, the Indian Air Force uses Russian-made AN-32s and IL-76s. Russia's UAC and India's HAL have established the Multirole Transport Aircraft Ltd. as a joint venture for the proposed medium transport aircraft, but a final production agreement has not been signed.
The program envisages production of a 20-ton cargo plane capable of ferrying 80 troops together with infantry fighting vehicles
Indian AF Transport Program Hits Hurdle
(1 hr per DAY !!!!!). 
....... which means at the current rate of use, they can be flown for almost 230 YEAR 
