NEW DELHI: The government has invited bids for 60 medium transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) under a nearly Rs 1 lakh crore programme that will see Indian companies tie up with foreign aerospace majors, while retaining the lead role in building the aircraft in India.
The Request for Proposal (RFP), the formal tender document inviting shortlisted bidders to submit detailed technical and commercial proposals, has gone to the Tata Group, Mahindra Defence, Adani Defence and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). Each will have to tie up with a foreign original equipment manufacturer, (OEM) set up a final assembly line in India and build a maintenance and overhaul ecosystem around it.
Under the arrangement, the Indian firm will be the prime contractor, while the foreign major will come in as its aircraft and technology partner. That inversion, more than the size of the order, sets this tender apart from the big aircraft buys that came before it.
As reported earlier by TNIE, the programme will be pursued under the Buy and Make route, with 12 aircraft to be acquired in flyaway condition and the remaining 48 to be manufactured in India in partnership with domestic industry.
Of those built here, the RFP stipulates a minimum 40 per cent indigenous content, rising to 60 per cent in phases.
The acquisition is aimed at replacing the IAF’s fleet of over 100 Soviet-era Antonov An-32s, a project that has been hanging fire since the mid-2000s. The aircraft entered service in the mid-1980s and now fly on shrinking spares and rising maintenance demands. One crashed in June, killing all five personnel on board, underlining the urgency of recapitalising the fleet.
The IAF wants aircraft in the 18 to 30 tonne payload class, plugging the gap between the roughly nine-tonne C-295 being built at Vadodara and the C-17 Globemaster-III, which lifts over 70 tonnes. Sources said the new aircraft could in time take over part of the ageing Il-76 fleet’s role as well.
Crucially, the aircraft must operate from high-altitude airfields and short, semi-prepared strips, including the Advanced Landing Grounds in Ladakh and the Northeast. Few transports meet those conditions while still carrying a useful load.
During the military standoff in Eastern Ladakh, transport aircraft were central to sustaining troop deployments and moving equipment into high-altitude sectors at speed. The experience reinforced a long-held assessment within the IAF that airlift is a core operational capability, particularly along contested borders where terrain restricts surface movement.
Two pairings have emerged as front runners. The Tata Group has tied up with Lockheed Martin for the C-130J Super Hercules, 12 of which the IAF already operates. At around 19 tonnes, it sits at the lower end of the payload band.
Mahindra Defence has partnered Embraer for the C-390 Millennium, which at about 26 tonnes sits closer to the upper end. The Brazilian firm has offered to build a manufacturing and MRO ecosystem here if selected.
HAL is the third entrant, having revived its engagement with Russia. The two had pursued a joint Multi-role Transport Aircraft from 2009 before the project collapsed in 2016 over design and development disagreements.
It is learnt that Airbus, which had offered the A400M when the IAF issued its Request for Information in 2022, is likely to sit this one out. Its aircraft lifts about 37 tonnes, well above what the tender asks for.
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared the buy in March. Technical evaluation, field trials and commercial negotiations now follow before a winner is picked.
