India opens first private military aircraft plant with Airbus

On Monday, India opened the first private plant for the production of military aircraft. Bloomberg reports, UNN reports.

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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is on a two-day visit to India, will open the plant together with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Gujarat.

A joint venture between Airbus SE and TATA Advanced Systems will produce transport aircraft to replace the Indian armed forces' outdated fleet. According to sources, the first aircraft is scheduled for delivery in 2026, and the rest - by August 2031.

This production facility is a continuation of a $2.6 billion contract signed between India and Airbus three years ago for the supply of 56 C-295 transport aircraft. Of these, 16 aircraft will be manufactured in Spain and the rest in India.

The C-295s, which can carry up to nine metric tons or 71 soldiers, will replace the Indian Air Force's aging fleet of Avro cargo aircraft, which were commissioned sixty years ago. The Indian military plans to build more of these transport aircraft to replace the Russian-made An-32 transport aircraft, which are rapidly reaching the end of their service life.

According to them, the share of local components in Indian C-295s will increase to three quarters from about half now.

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Bloomberg also writes that India is building the plant amid efforts to reduce its dependence on foreign equipment, especially from russia. It is noted that due to the invasion of Ukraine, russia is delaying the supply of weapons to India, which has affected the country's defense capabilities and made the need for local arms production more urgent.

Recall

According to Bloomberg, exports of prohibited goods from India to russia have increased significantly, reaching $95 million in July. Almost one-fifth of sensitive technologies for the russian military-industrial complex come through India.

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