IAF C-17 Globemaster III seen taking off
The Cabinet Committee on Security led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 September 2021 cleared the proposal for procuring 56 Airbus C- 295MW transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force. The long pending deal worth approximately USD 3 billion will replace the ageing IAF fleet of Avro HS-748 transport aircraft. In a major ‘Make in India’ step, the procurement will see 16 aircraft being delivered in flyaway condition from Spain within 48 months of signing of the contract while the remaining 40 aircraft will be manufactured in India by the Tata Consortium within 10 years of signing the contract. This will partially solve India’s problem with its transport fleet. The Indian Air Force is currently world’s fourth largest. It operates various transport platforms as well. Along with the HS-748, it operates the Dornier-228, An-32, C-130J, Il-76 and C-17 as well. The transport fleet has a perfect blend of light, medium and heavy platforms to meet various requirements. But as India’s strength grows, the need for far larger fleet and versatile systems grows as well. The best example in recent times Solving the transport fleet fiasco of IAF IAF C-17 Globemaster III seen taking off to understand the importance of transport aircraft can be explored from recent Kabul crisis as aftermath of Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. As thousands of Afghans and foreign workers rushed to the Hamid Karzai International Airport to flee the Taliban, countries around the world sent their transport aircraft for quick evacuation. A US Air Force C-17A callsign 871 is reported to have evacuated 823 people in one go! Though it must be noted, for the evacuation special arrangements were done for utilisation of maximum interior space, still the sheer capability of the platform can’t be denied.
HS-748 Avro will gradually be replaced by the C-295
IAF C-130J Hercules
The Avro replacement will only partially solve India’s problem with the transport fleet. The C-295MW is a modified version of the basic C-295. And with the enhanced payload capability with more than 9T, potentially it can be an ideal choice to replace India’s aging An-32 fleet as well. India operates more than 100 An-32s and in past years has witnessed multiple unfortunate mishaps. In 2019, then the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshall Birender Singh Dhanoa commented that the An-32 would continue to fly in mountainous region lacking imminent new alternatives. The Defence Minister, Mr. Rajnath Singh soon stated that 52 of the An-32 fleet had been upgraded (An-32RE). Though these upgraded fleet will continue to serve for a considerable time, the IAF has expedited the process to acquire newer platforms. Meanwhile, both Russia and Ukraine have offered their own products as a replacement of An-32. Russia is offering Il-112V against Ukraine’s An-132D. Infact, An-132D conducted a demo flight in front of then CAS ACM BS Dhanoa at Aero India 2019. But both the Russian and Ukranian programme are going through some problems which will take a considerable time to be solved. In such conditions, C-295MW holds the best potential as a successful replacement to the An-32 fleet. The increased order will benefit local industries as a regional MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility for various variants of C-295 aircraft is going to be set up soon in India. In the medium category, IAF operates just 12 C-130J Super Hercules. Though when Alenia Aerinautica proposed their C-27J Spartan against C-130, they had envisaged a market of 50 platforms in India. Clearly, the order for C-130 counterpart hasn’t reached up to that yet. But even with the limited number strength it has acted as an ideal tactical air lifter by supplying cargo in various geographical terrain as well as a key asset to humanitarian assistance. Recently, the IAF has renewed its contract with Lockheed Martin for another five years to provide dedicated and comprehensive support for the fleet. In 2012, the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) signed a contract with United Aircraft Corporation -Transport Aircraft (UAC-TA) of Russia for the development for the Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA). The ambitious plan for a 20T platform if successful would make India self reliant in this particular category. But the project got scrapped unfortunately and India is now struggling to find a feasible alternative. However, India has received offers from Brazil, Russia and Ukraine to fulfill the requirements. Infact, Embraer once offered KC-390 as a partner programme. The Russian offer of Il-276 and An-178-100R from Ukraine can be an ideal platform in 20T category. Meanwhile, Airbus is offering their A-400M Atlas with almost double payload capability. India’s quest for 45 medium transport platform seems far from reality at this moment.
IAF An-32
IAF Dornier Do-228
The IAF operates just 17 Il-76s and 11 C-17 Globemaster IIIs. The C-17 with a great 78T payload capacity can do all the jobs rest are incapable of. But Boeing ended the production of this behemoth back in 2015. And yet there is no plan from the manufacturer to restart the programme. Many experts believe, it was a faux pass from the IAF not placing additional orders of C-17. Ironically, IAF isn’t the only one should be worried, rather USAF too reported exploring alternatives for future. In absence of C-17A, the only option currently exists is Il-76MD-90A which has considerably higher payload capacity than Il-76 currently in service with the IAF. In 2018, an Indian delegation from the Ministry of Defence was given detailed presentations on the Il-76MD-90A and Il-78MK-90A, the tanker variant. India definitely can understand the importance of such power lifters during the recent Afghan crisis where Indian Air Force assets were sent to the Afghanistan to evacuate Indian citizens as well as Afghan refugees. China has already developed three indigenous transport platforms– light Y-8, medium Y-9 and heavier Y-20. Kawasaki of Japan manufactures the C-2 and recently South Korea too announced an indigenous transport aircraft programme. India not only lost a golden opportunity to enter the selective club in the field but is also struggling with the number strength. The Airbus C-295 through Make in India hopefully will bring a change which might be followed by other Make in India programmes as well. But for that the IAF must decide what it wants and should decide as fast as possible before it’s late.
IAF Il-76 (photo: Joris van Boven)
Sankalan Chattopadhyay (Twitter @Vinoddx9)
(All photos Vayu except where mentioned)