Indian Air Force to lease A330 MRTT from France

The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved the lease of a single Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft for the Bharatiya Vayu Sena (IAF, Indian Air Force) from the Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace (AAE, French Air and Space Force).

This three-year lease is intended to bolster the IAF’s aerial refueling capabilities, which are currently under strain due to serviceability issues with its fleet of six Ilyushin Il-78MKI Midas refueling aircraft.

Additionally, the lease will provide IAF personnel with the opportunity to gain operational experience on the A330MRTT. The exact date of the aircraft’s arrival in India has not yet been disclosed.

The agreement is structured as a government-to-government (G2G) wet lease, which will include French flight crew and maintenance support. It comes after nearly a decade of efforts by the IAF to modernize its tanker fleet. The A330MRTT had previously been selected as the preferred option in two separate procurement attempts, in 2009 and 2013. Both proposals were later cancelled by the MoD’s finance department due to high initial costs.

The wet lease is expected to be finalized during the 2025–2026 financial year. The IAF remains committed to its long-term plan of acquiring six A330MRTT aircraft.

Credit photo: Robert Erenstein (Scramble Archive)