The new Medium Transport Aircraft will transform the IAF’s military airlift capability
Atul Chandra
In any future conflict with China, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be tasked with transporting large quantities of men and material to India’s Himalayan and North-Eastern frontiers. To cater to this requirement the IAF is now in the middle of an effort to recapitalise its transport aircraft fleet which largely comprises of eighties-origin Antonov AN-32 Sutlej medium transports, Ilyushin IL-76 Gajraj heavy transports along with the far more modern and capable Boeing C-17 Globemaster III and Lockheed Martin C-130J-30.
However, while the larger strategic airlifters such as the C-17 and IL-76 will play a key role, it will be the newer Airbus C295 coupled with the upgraded AN-32REs that will undertake the bulk of the military airlift needed to sustain combat operations on the Eastern front.
The IAF is presently said to be re-evaluating its military airlift requirements vis-a-vis its increased operational orientation on India’s North-Eastern borders. It would appear that the continued concerns related to operating costs and future sustainment of the IL-76 and AN-32RE will result in both of these types being replaced by the future Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA).
Ideally, the IAF would have already had an MTA in service by now, if the Indo-Russian MTA project to develop a turbofan-powered military transport in the 15-20 tonne category had fructified. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) entered into a joint venture with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation-Transport Aircraft Division over a decade ago, in 2012. However, the MTA programme was cancelled in 2017, with rumours that the Air Force was unhappy with the high-altitude performance of the aircraft, among other things.
New Lift
It has been just a year since the IAF released a requirement for a new Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) in February 2023. The MTA would be used for various roles of transport aircraft between 18 to 30 tonnes of cargo carrying capacity. The IAF requirement has received strong interest from military transport aircraft manufacturers, of which only a few exist globally.
The Air Force could procure up to 80 aircraft and the MTA requirement is the largest of its kind in the world presently. At the moment Airbus, Lockheed Martin and Embraer have thrown their hat in the ring with their A400M Atlas, C-130 J Super Hercules and C-390 Millenium. Embraer is pitching the C-390 as the most modern military transport aircraft in the market, with the ability to carry 26 tonnes payload and achieve speeds of up to 870 kilometres per hour. Lockheed Martin is quietly confident of the C-130J-30s prospects as it has been in service with the Air Force for over a decade. Airbus’ A400M is the largest aircraft in the competition but also benefits from IAF familiarity with the aircraft over the course of numerous training exercises with foreign air forces.
Fast Mover
Brazil’s Embraer Defence & Security has moved quickly with its offering of the C-390 multi-mission transport aircraft and in February, announced that it had inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mahindra to jointly fulfil the IAF’s MTA acquisition. The MoU was signed by Embraer Defence & Security and Mahindra Defence Systems, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Mahindra, which focuses on armoured transport and security-related products including electronics. President & CEO, Embraer Defence & Security Bosco da Costa Junior said, “India is a key market for Embraer and we fully support India’s ambitions for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. We see this partnership as a symbol of strengthening relations between Brazil and India and a way to foster Global South cooperation.” Both companies have said that they will explore the potential to turn India into a future C-390 hub for the region. Embraer had already held a C-390 Millennium Day in New Delhi in August 2023 to deepen its engagement with the local Indian aerospace industry.
Following the MoU, Embraer and Mahindra will engage with the Indian Air Force to identify the next steps of the MTA programme, as well as contact the local aerospace industry in India to start developing the industrialisation plan for the project. “The C-390 Millennium is the most advanced military airlifter in the market, and we believe that this partnership will not only bolster the operational prowess of the Indian Air Force, but also provide an efficient industrialisation solution that aligns seamlessly with the objectives of Make in India,” said Vinod Sahay, President, Aerospace & Defence Sector and Member of Group Executive Board, Mahindra.
2024 marks five years of operational service of the C-390 with the Brazilian Air Force. The C-390 Millennium achieved Full Operational Capability (FOC) status with the Brazilian Air Force in 2023. The newest operator of the aircraft is the Portuguese Air Force, which inducted its aircraft into service in 2023. Embraer claims that the C-390 has proven its capacity, reliability and performance with the current fleet of aircraft in operation having accumulated over 11,500 flight hours. The C-390 has demonstrated operational availability rates of approximately 80 per cent while its mission completion rates are above 99 per cent. The aircraft configured with air-to-air refueling equipment, with the designation KC-390, has already proven its aerial refueling capacity both as a tanker and as a receiver, in this case by receiving fuel from another KC-390 using pods installed under the wings.
To date, the C-390 Millennium has been selected by Brazil, Portugal, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic and most recently, South Korea. The aircraft was selected by Austria and Czech Republic in 2023, and by the Netherlands in 2022. South Korea’s decision to opt for the C-390 Millennium for its Large Transport Aircraft (LTA) II public tender has also made it the first Asian customer for the type.
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