The Indian Air Force will soon phase out its old Avro HS 748 transport aircrafts. The Avro aircraft will be replaced with modern ones. A...
The Avro aircraft will be replaced with modern ones. A request for proposal (RFP) has been sought by the authorities, Air Marshal Jagdish Chandra, Air Officer in-Commanding in-Chief of IAF Maintenance Command here, told reporters on the sidelines of an air show at Sonegaon Airbase.
The IAF currently operates 56 HS-748 Avro aircraft, which can carry 5-8 tonne.
The IAF is looking to team with the Indian private industry to replace aging Avro fleet as the public sector HAL has made huge delivery delays .
The Defence Ministry had earlier cleared a proposal worth over Rs 12,000 crore to procure 56 transport aircraft for the Air Force to replace its fleet of vintage Avro HS-748 planes.
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister A K Antony has agreed for IAF proposal to issue a global tender for procuring these aircrafts.
As per the plan, the first 16 aircraft would be produced by the OEM and the remaining would be license-produced by the consortium of private Indian industries with the help of IAF.
As per IAF plans, the twin-engine aircraft is planned to have a six to eight tonne payload capacity, cruise speed of 800 kilometers per hour range of 2,500 kilometers to 2,700 kilometers.
