India's RFI for Medium Transport Aircraft

In 2022, the Indian government issued a Request for Information (RFI) for a Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) with a payload capacity of 18 to 30 tonnes. The new transporter is a potential replacement for the Bharatiya Vayu Sena (IAF, Indian Air Force) Antonov An-32 and Ilyushin Il-76. It is clear that India foresees future availability and maintenance issues with the Russian built aircraft.

The submission deadline was extended from December 2022 till 31 March 2023. Three aircraft manufacturers have been approached for information, these are Airbus Defence and Space, Lockheed Martin and EMBRAER. Airbus has pitched the A400M Atlas transport aircraft, whilst Lockheed Martin and EMBRAER have proposed the C-130J Super Hercules respectively the KC-390 Millennium.

The A400M is much larger and carries almost twice the payload to twice the range than the other proposed transporters. The head of Airbus Defence and Space in India, Venkat Katkuri, said the contest is in the RFI stage and aircraft manufacturer Airbus is open to a 'Make in India' component of a future contract.

An earlier programme to jointly co-develop and produce a Multi-Role Transport Aircraft (MTA) of 20 tonnes with Russia to replace the An-32s was scrapped in March 2017 after various design discussion. Just recently, during Aero India in March 2023, Rostec officials discussed the MTA again with Indian officials to get India back in the programme. Russia was ready to make concessions and offered the Ilyushin 276 even with the possibilities of specific Indian customisations. Although no official statement has been made, Scramble Magazine assesses that India is not considering to rejoin the originla programme.

According to the Scramble database, the IAF operates around 100 An-32 Sutlej (named after Sutlej River) and 17 Ilyushin Il-76MD Gajraj (Hindi for King Elephant) strategic airlifters. The Il-76 is plagued by poor serviceability, a matter likely to be further exacerbated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and Western sanctions on the former for starting the conflict. The An-32s have been upgraded under a USD400 million contract signed with Ukraine in 2009. Some of them were upgraded in Ukraine ten years ago to improve avionics and increase engine lifespan, while others have been upgraded/are still upgraded at an IAF repair facility in Kanpur.

The RFI states that deliveries of the aircraft should commence within 36 months of the signing of the contract. Although no specific number of aircraft has been mentioned, the three aircraft manufacturers have been asked to provide a ‘Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost of aircraft and associated equipment’ for a batch of 40, 60, and 80 aircraft, respectively.

Photos by Ben Uffen, Paul Mali and Oscar Vis (all Scramble Archive)