NEW DELHI: The mega Rs 21,935 crore Tata-Airbus project to supply 56 twin-turboprop C-295 military transport aircraft to the IAF is set to become even bigger. The defence ministry is now planning the acquisition of another 15 such planes for the Navy and Coast Guard as well.
The plan is to modify nine C-295s for Navy and six for Coast Guard, and equip them with multi-mode radars, electro-optic cameras and sonobuoys, for surveillance missions over the high seas, sources told TOI.
Airbus Defence and Space (Spain) will modify the initial couple of planes for maritime requirements. The rest will be manufactured at the Tata-Airbus facility at Vadodara in Gujarat, with the DRDO executing the overall project for equipping them to serve as medium-range maritime reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft.
