Airbus Defence teams with Tata for Indian Air Force bid

Flightglobal

Airbus C-295

     Airbus Defence and Space has announced it is teaming up with Tata Advanced Systems to bid to replace the Indian air force’s ageing fleet of small tactical transport aircraft with the Airbus C295 twin-turboprop medium airlifter. The main competitor is for the bid is Alenia Aermacchi with its C27J Spartan.

If the C295 were to be chosen for the contract, Tata Advanced Systems would be the Indian production agency for the project, which entails replacing a fleet of 56 severely ageing British Aerospace Avro 748s.

Embraer rolls out KC-390 military transport aircraft in Brazil amid huge fanfare

The first completed prototype of the Embraer KC-390 military transport aircraft 
rolled out of the company’s Gavião Peixoto, Brazil, production facility on 21 October.

IAF aircraft C-130J Super Hercules crashes near Gwalior, 5 killed

IAF LM C-130J Super Hercules

NEW DELHI: A recently acquired C-130J transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed 72 miles west of Gwalior airbase on Friday morning, killing at least five personnel on board.

The IAF has no official word yet on how many personnel were aboard the aircraft.

The crash of the four-engine US made aircraft has baffled experienced pilots, given its safety records and extreme agility. One senior air force pilot said the accident was "bizarre", and speculated that either the crew was incapacitated or a fire broke out aboard the plane.

India to buy 6 more C-130J ‘Super Hercules’ aircraft

The Defence Ministry today gave its nod for purchase of six more C-130J "Super Hercules" aircraft from the US in a deal worth over Rs 4,000 crore.

The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister A K Antony cleared the deal and it will now go to Cabinet Committee on Security for the final approval, sources said.

India launches Rs 13,000 crore IAF aircraft project involving private sector

Indian AirForce Avro

     India has kick-started another mega defence project by floating the global tender for the over Rs 13,000-crore acquisition of 56 transport aircraft to replace the ageing Avro fleet of IAF. The project, under which the first 16 aircraft will be bought off-the-shelf and the rest 40 will be manufactured in India, breaks new ground by specifying that the foreign aviation major eventually selected will have to tie-up with an Indian private sector company to produce the planes.