India gets first private military aircraft plant. Here’s all you need to know about C-295 assembly facility

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (Oct 28) inaugurated the TATA Aircraft Complex that will manufacture the C-295 military aircraft in Vadodara city of Gujarat. The facility was inaugurated by PM Modi along with Spain’s President Pedro Sanchez.

As part of the C-295 programme, 16 aircraft will be directly delivered by Spain’s aircraft manufacturing company Airbus, and the remaining 40 will be manufactured at the facility. This facility will be the first private sector Final Assembly Line (FAL) for military aircraft built in India.

While addressing the inauguration ceremony, the Indian prime minister said that the country will export the aircraft manufactured at the facility in the near future.

“The Tata-Airbus manufacturing facility will strengthen the India-Spain relations and the ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ mission,” said PM Modi.

Remembering, former Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata – who was the brain behind the project – he said, “Recently, we lost the country’s great son Ratan Tata ji. If he had been among us today, he would have been happy, but wherever his soul is, he would be happy.”

In the facility, a complete ecosystem will be established for manufacturing the aircraft from its assembly, test and qualification to delivery as well as the maintenance of the aircraft’s complete lifecycle.

Criticising the government on X, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh said, “Today, the non-biological PM is in Vadodara to launch the Tata-Airbus C-295 aircraft facility. This exact same project was supposed to be set up in Nagpur, but was shifted to Gujarat in 2022 on the eve of the assembly elections there.”

He added that “one can only imagine the behind-the-scenes manoeuvres” that led to Maharashtra missing out on this significant investment.

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“This is not an exception. Under the non-biological PM’s leadership and instructions, the Union Government and the Mahayuti government have conspired to ensure the wholesale surrender of Maharashtra’s interests in landing new projects or seeking Central support,” he said.

The C-295 is capable of meeting various requirements of modern militaries. Here are some of its primary roles:

• Cargo Transport: The aircraft can carry heavy payloads which includes vehicles, helicopters, and other oversized cargo.
• Tactical Transport: The aircraft is able to airlift supplies, equipment and troops to remote or hostile areas.
• Surveillance: The aircraft is capable of conducting reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions.
• Medical Evacuation: The aircraft can provide transportation and critical care to wounded personnel.
• Humanitarian Aid: The aircraft delivers relief supplies and personnel in times of natural disasters or humanitarian crises.

Here are some of the features of C-295 aircraft:

• Range and Endurance: 5,000 km range and 11 hours of endurance
• Payload Capacity: Up to 9,250 kg
• Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL): This enables operations from short, unpaved runways
• Advanced Avionics: State-of-the-art cockpit and navigation systems
• Multi-Mission Capability: Easily configurable for various roles

The features, reliability and versatility of the C-295 have made it a preferred choice of militaries of various countries.

(With inputs from agencies)