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| Alenia C-27J Spartan |
By Jay Menon
NEW DELHI — India has issued a request for proposals for 56 cargo aircraft to replace its air force’s aging fleet of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.-built Hawker Siddeley 748M Avro aircraft, according to a defense ministry official.
Under the deal, the first 16 aircraft will be directly procured from the chosen foreign vendor, which will then have to partner with an Indian firm that will manufacture the remaining 40. Out of those 40, 16 must have 30% indigenous components, while 24 must have 60% locally procured parts, the official says.
The Indian air force (IAF) is looking at several options including IL-114 variants from the Russian Ilyushin Aviation Complex, Ukrainian An-148 Antonov, the twin-turboprop European EADS Casa C-295 and Italian Alenia C-27J Spartan medium-sized military transport aircraft.
Read the full story at Aviation Week