As the mega-deal of the Indian Air Force (IAF) for procuring Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) moves ahead, U.S. defence major Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) on Tuesday (September 10, 2024) announced collaboration for establishing a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India to support the IAF’s fleet of 12 C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft as well as other global C-130J fleets.
The two companies entered into a teaming agreement to expand upon their business relationship through the C-130J Super Hercules tactical airlifter, Lockheed said in a statement. This agreement provides a framework for collaboration on future potential business opportunities to include the establishment of the MRO and also expanding C-130J manufacturing and assembly in India to produce aircraft for the IAF’s MTA programme, subject to U.S. and Indian government approvals, it stated.
Stating that it will continue to build C-130Js for the U.S. government and other global operators at the existing Super Hercules production facility in Marietta, Georgia, U.S., the statement said, “Lockheed Martin will establish additional production and assembly capacity in India if awarded the MTA contract.”
“The current announcement is also significant as it marks the entry of TASL into the defence MRO space in India for large aircraft platforms. This also helps towards a deeper relationship between the two companies, adding to the aerostructure work by Tata Advanced Systems for Lockheed Martin platforms,” said Sukaran Singh, chief executive officer and managing director, TASL.
“The C-130J is known as the world’s workhorse, not just for its large global presence, but also for its international supply chain partners including the single source provider of empennages — Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Limited (TLMAL) in Hyderabad,” said Rod McLean, vice president and general manager of the air mobility and maritime missions line of business at Lockheed Martin.
IAF issued a Request for Information (RFI) for an MTA in December 2022 with a load carrying capacity between 18 tonnes to 30 tonnes for up to 80 aircraft. A comprehensive study was also carried out to identify the current and future payload carrying requirements of the force. There are three responses to the RFI which include Airbus A-400M, Lockheed Martin C-130 and Embraer C-390. Among them, the A-400M has the maximum carrying capacity of 37 tonnes, the C-130 close to 20 tonnes and the C-390 can carry up to 26 tonnes.
Established in 2010, TLMAL is the single global source of C-130J empennage assemblies included on all new Super Hercules aircraft produced in the US. To date, TLMAL has manufactured more than 220 C-130J empennages.
“The C-130J-30 delivers unmatched interoperability with global air forces, robust industrial partnerships, and verified low lifecycle costs with significant fuel savings resulting in a reduced carbon footprint compared to other medium-sized jet airlifters,” Lockheed said pitching the C-130J for the MTA. More than three million flight hours have been logged by more than 545 C-130Js in support of 19 different mission requirements, the statement said.
The MTA could become a potential replacement for a part of the much smaller AN-32s in service and could also replace the larger IL-76, which is also being looked into. There is a huge gap in carrying capacities at the moment with the current aircraft which needs to adjusted, as reported earlier.
The transport fleet of the IAF currently consists of over 100 AN-32s, 56 AVROs which are in the process of being replaced with the Airbus C-295, IL-76 heavy transports and IL-78 mi-air refuelling tankers from Russia, 12 C-130J Super Hercules and 11 C-17 Globemaster strategic airlift aircraft from the US. Of these, the IL-76 has the capacity to lift 45-50 tonnes and the C-17 up to 70 tonnes.
Published - September 10, 2024 09:03 pm IST
