An Airbus C295 aircraft contracted by the IAF stands at Seville, Spain, before its delivery to India in September 2023. In the background is an A400M Atlas for the French Air and Space Force. (Francisco J Olmo/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Airbus and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) have inaugurated a final assembly line (FAL) complex in India to support the production of C295 transport aircraft contracted by the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The inauguration comes three years after the IAF formalised the acquisition of 56 Airbus C295 aircraft to replace its legacy Avro 748M transport aircraft fleet. As per the contract, 40 of the C295s are to be manufactured and assembled in India, in partnership with TASL, at the FAL. Janes has previously reported that the remaining 16 aircraft are to be delivered to the IAF in “fly-away” condition from Airbus' final assembly line in Seville, Spain.
According to Airbus and TASL, the FAL complex, which is located in Vadodara, Gujarat, will integrate “the manufacturing of detail parts and related tooling, subassemblies, major component assemblies, tools, jigs, and testers”.
The “production of components of the C295 aircraft [has] already started in the main component assembly (MCA) facility in Hyderabad,” the two companies said in a joint statement. “The parts for the first C295 aircraft to be made in India have been shipped to the Vadodara FAL, where the aircraft will be assembled and then delivered to the IAF.”
The companies added that the first domestically produced C295s will roll out of the Vadodara FAL in September 2026. The factory will “ramp up” to deliver the remaining aircraft to the IAF by August 2031, “as required by the IAF contract”, the joint statement said.
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