NEW DELHI: With the long-delayed project to strengthen the Indian Air Force’s medium-lift transport fleet finally out for bids, the US has moved quickly to showcase its industrial footprint in India.
Ambassador Sergio Gor on Monday toured the Hyderabad plant that has been producing tail assemblies for the C-130J Super Hercules for over a decade.
The visit to Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Ltd (TLMAL) came just 12 days after the Centre issued the request for proposal for 60 medium transport aircraft (MTA), setting in motion one of the biggest military aviation contests of the decade.
Gor, who toured the empennage production line, said manufacturing critical C-130J structures in India was “a strong example” of growing US-India industrial and defence cooperation. Such partnerships, he said, create high-skilled jobs, strengthen resilient supply chains and advance the two countries’ shared vision of a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific.
As reported earlier, the tender for the MTA programme has gone to the Tata Group, Mahindra Defence, Adani Defence and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, each of which must partner a foreign original equipment manufacturer, establish a final assembly line in India and build a maintenance and overhaul ecosystem around it.
The Indian firm will be the prime contractor, with the foreign OEM serving as its aircraft and technology partner. Twelve aircraft will be acquired in flyaway condition under the “buy and make” route, while the remaining 48 will be manufactured in India, with indigenous content beginning at 40% and rising in phases to 60%.
Tata has tied up with Lockheed Martin to offer the C-130J-30, 12 of which are already operated by the IAF for special operations. The IAF inducted its first six C-130J-30 aircraft in 2010, followed by another six, with the fleet operated by the Garud Special Forces and based at Hindon. The aircraft has been used extensively for special operations, airlift and operations from high-altitude and austere airfields, including the Advanced Landing Ground at Daulat Beg Oldie in Ladakh.
The C-130J, however, sits at the lower end of the payload requirement. The IAF is seeking an aircraft capable of carrying between 18 and 30 tonnes, while the Hercules manages roughly 19. The C-390, by comparison, can carry around 26 tonnes.
The requirement is aimed at bridging the gap between the nine-tonne C-295 now being built at Vadodara and the C-17 Globemaster-III, which can carry more than 70 tonnes.
The aircraft must also operate from high-altitude airfields and short, semi-prepared strips, including the Advanced Landing Grounds in Ladakh and the Northeast.
It comes as the IAF seeks to replace its ageing fleet of more than 100 An-32s, which began entering service in the 1980s, and could eventually take over part of the role performed by the ageing Il-76 fleet.
For Tata and Lockheed Martin, the Hyderabad facility offers an established manufacturing base, with the TLMAL joint venture producing C-130J empennages for Lockheed Martin’s global programme for over 15 years.
“This Medium Transport Aircraft opportunity extends and strengthens an already established and proven relationship and capability,” said Trish Pagan, Lockheed Martin’s vice-president for Air Mobility and Maritime Missions in a statement issued Monday.
Interestingly, Tata’s stronger credential, however, comes from a rival OEM. The first C-295 built in India at its final assembly line with Airbus in Vadodara is scheduled to be handed over to the IAF next month, giving the group demonstrated experience in running an Indian assembly line rather than only supplying components into one.
Under the Rs 21,935 crore contract for 56 aircraft, 16 were supplied from Seville and the remaining 40 are being built at Vadodara through August 2031. More than 85% of structural and final assembly work is being carried out in India, with 13,000 detail parts manufactured locally and 37 Indian suppliers onboarded.
The Tata-Lockheed partnership is also expanding into sustainment, with a C-130J maintenance, repair and overhaul facility scheduled to become operational in December and the first aircraft expected to arrive in spring 2027.
“Both parties are expanding cooperation on full platforms for Make in India, should we get the opportunity,” TASL chief executive and managing director Sukaran Singh said as per the statement.
The contest comes amid a steady expansion of India-US defence cooperation. US-origin platforms now form a significant part of the Indian military inventory, including the C-130J, C-17, P-8I, Apache, Chinook and MH-60R fleets. The two countries renewed the 10-year Framework for the US-India
Major Defence Partnership in October last year. Some industrial initiatives, however, have moved slower. The proposed GE Aerospace-HAL partnership to manufacture F414 engines in India, announced in 2023, has cleared technical discussions but commercial issues remain under negotiation, while repeated delays in GE’s F404 engine supplies have affected Tejas Mk1A production.
The MTA bids will now go through technical evaluation, field trials and commercial negotiations before the government selects the aircraft and its Indian partner.
