Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday formally inducted its first C295 transport aircraft at Hindon Air Base in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, where Defence Minister was Rajnath Singh present to mark the occasion.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Bharat Drone Shakti-2023 exhibition at the Hindon Air Base, where the induction ceremony of C295 aircraft also took place. Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari was also present at the event.
Also Read: All About C-295 Military Aircraft of Airbus
The first C295 medium tactical transport aircraft landed in Vadodara last week, days after it was handed over to the IAF in the southern Spanish city of Seville.
Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari had on September 13 received the first of the 56 C295 transport aircraft, two years after India sealed a Rs 21,935-crore deal with Airbus Defence and Space to procure the jets to replace its ageing Avro–748 fleet, a twin-engine turboprop military transport that has been a workhorse for the IAF for many years.
About Airbus’s C295 Aircraft
India in 2021 sealed an over Rs 21,000-crore deal with Airbus to procure 56 of the C295 aircraft to replace the ageing Avro-748 planes of the IAF.
Under the agreement, Airbus was supposed to deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Spain’s Seville within four years, with the subsequent 40 aircraft to be manufactured and assembled by the Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies.
-C295 aircraft can attain a maximum speed of 260 knots and has the capacity to carry a substantial load, ranging from 5 to 10 tonnes.
-One key advantage of the C295 is its suitability for low-level flight characteristics, particularly designed for tactical missions
-C295 aircraft is fitted with a retractable landing gear and features an unobstructed 12.69-meter-long pressurised cabin. The C-295 cruises at altitudes up to 30,000 ft.
-Airbus descripes C295 as having “remarkable” short take-off and landing (STOL) performance from unpaved, soft, and sandy/grass airstrips.
-According to Airbus website, the C-295 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprop engines that provide excellent manoeuvrability, outstanding hot-and-high performance, with fuel consumption for a very long endurance of up to 13 hours aloft”.
About Bharat Drone Shakti 2023 Event
The Bharat Drone Shakti 2023 event aims to showcase India’s growing prowess in the drone industry with over 50 aerial demos.
More than 75 exhibitors are expected to display technologies related to surveying, precision agriculture, firefighting, healthcare delivery, military surveillance, heavy-lift cargo transport, loitering munitions, drone swarms, and life-saving drone ambulances.
#WATCH | A compact system of drone that can be carried on a motorbike displayed during Bharat Drone Shakti-2023 at the Hindon Air Base in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad. Special motorbikes are customised to carry unassembled drones. Kisan drones can be transported using motorbikes… pic.twitter.com/Zc5GFvvPg4
— ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2023
The event is taking place over two days, September 25 and 26.