The Airbus C-295M is a tactical transport aircraft manufactured by the Airbus Defence, Spain.
In September 2021, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) gave approval for the procurement of 56 C-295M transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) with Airbus in a deal worth $2.5 billion.
For the IAF, these C-295s will come as replacements for its aging Avro HS748 transport aircraft.
Of the 56 C-295s ordered, the first 16 will be built by Airbus Defence and Space at its facility in Seville in southern Spain.
The remaining 40 aircrafts will be built at the new Tata-Airbus facility at Vadodara.
The above picture is of the first such aircraft of the 16, to be built at the Seville factory in Spain.
PM Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of this facility at Vadodara in October 2022.
Over the next few years, India is likely to buy more of these aircraft, which will also be built at the same facility. The Tata-Airbus facility at Vadodara will also build aircraft for exports, officials have said.
The C-295 is a tactical transport aircraft capable of lifting 6 tonnes — it can carry five cargo pallets or 71 troops or 50 paratroopers. The rear ramp door of the aircraft can be used for quick reaction and para-dropping of troops and cargo.
The aircraft can land on and take off from short, unprepared airstrips not accessible to heavier transport aircraft, a feature which makes it useful for operations from Advanced Landing Grounds along India’s China frontier.
