HAL Tells IAF That It Ready To Build New Military Transport Aircraft

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has told the Indian Air Force (IAF) that it is ready to build a medium category transport aircraft that can carry 20 tonnes of cargo.

HAL was left out of the C-295M deal for making transport planes, which went to the private sector for the first time.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has already begun the process of buying a Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) that can carry between 18 and 30 tonnes of cargo and can be used for a variety of transport aircraft tasks.

A report from the Indian Defense Research Wing (IDRW) says that even though it is called the An-32 Replacement programme, the IAF is likely to place more orders for the C-295M, which will eventually replace the ageing An-32 fleet.

IDRW said that officials said HAL would propose making a Medium Category Transport Aircraft. This plane would be between the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules and the IL-76 aircraft in the IAF in terms of size and capabilities. This military plane is expected to be able to take off with a maximum weight of 80–90 tonnes and carry 30 tonnes of cargo inside.

HAL is already in talks with Embraer, an aviation company based in Brazil. Embraer has offered to sell HAL its C-390 Millennium, a military transport plane with two jet engines and a medium size. But it won’t work for the current RFI because it can only hold 23 tonnes of cargo inside.

Reports say that there is one more idea for an IAF military transport plane, but the details of this idea have not been made public yet.