Competition for India’s Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) requirement is heating up, with both Embraer and Lockheed Martin talking up industrial work at the Aero India air show.
The announcements follow a request for information issued by the defence ministry in 2023, which stated a need for 80 tactical transports in the in the 18-30t class. The aircraft will replace India’s Antonov An-32s and Ilyushin IL-76s.
“This is still not an immediate priority but is going to come up in the next three to four years,” says former Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, who retired from the air force in 2024.
“We are likely to start going through the procurement process in maybe two to three years. Once again, the caveat is that it must be largely made in India.”
Embraer, pitching the C-390 Millennium, says that it could make India its hub to meet tactical transport aircraft demand in the region.
The Brazilian airframer’s offer includes setting up an assembly line, facilitating industrial development, undertaking parts manufacturing, and managing local MRO, logistics and training.
Bosco da Costa Junior, president & chief executive of Embraer Defence & Security, says a new Embraer India subsidiary is planned in New Delhi and that it is likely be operational by the second quarter.
Embraer’s India subsidiary will provide engineering services, undertake strategic sourcing, provide service and spares support and handle business development related tasks. In February 2024 Embraer named Mahindra Defence Systems as its local partner.
Embraer officials tout the C-390’s flexibility. For example, it takes just 4h to install roll-on/off internal tanks and wing pods and convert the aircraft into a tanker. The aircraft can then be easily switched back to a troop transport configuration.
The in-service C-390 fleet has accumulated 16,500h. The Hungarian air force, which took delivery of its first aircraft in September 2024, has already flown more than 240h with the type. The Portuguese air force has flown a total of 1,700h with its two C-390 since its first aircraft arrived in October 2023.
Lockheed, producer of the C-130J, and local partner Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) firmed up plans to establish a C-130J MRO facility in Bengaluru. The location will support both the air force’s existing 12 C-130Js and global operators.
In September 2024 the two companies mooted the possibility of local MRO and stated that the C-130J could be produced locally, although this would be subject to US government approvals. TASL is already involved in the C-130J, including the production of the aircraft’s empennage in Hyderabad.
Lockheed declined to provide more concrete details about its C-130J plans for India, but feels that the C-130J will “meet and exceed” Indian requirements.
