Jorge Tamarit-Degenhardt, leader of Airbus’s C295 transport aircraft programme, stated in an interview that Airbus S.A.S. intends to strengthen its collaboration with Tata Advanced Systems in order to expand India’s defence supply chain and introduce new products to meet the nation’s defence requirements.
Tamarit reports that Airbus and Tata plans to engage in capacity building, which will involve obtaining raw materials, producing detailed pieces, or subcomponents, and setting up facilities for subassembly and assembly. He further said that the program will be implemented in stages, with the first phase concentrating on obtaining components like metals and composite manufacturing technology.
A deal of INR 21,395 crore was inked between the Indian Air Force and Airbus in 2021 for 56 C295 military transport aircraft. From the San Pablo Sur plant in Seville, Spain, approximately sixteen of these aircraft will be purchased in a ready-to-fly configuration directly from the final production line. Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhuri was present when Airbus handed over the first aircraft earlier this year. About 40 C295s will be produced locally, necessitating investments from Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus to set up the defense supply chain.
“We train Tata and collaborate with Tata. After then, it is up to them to choose whether to manufacture or purchase the components. When choosing a supplier or MSME (micro, small, and medium-sized companies), they must meet certain conditions that Airbus has established. Therefore, we are evaluating the suppliers. We are certifying them and helping them when there is a void. The majority of resources in the initial phase will go into metallic and composite manufacturing technologies,” the official quoted in the news report, adding that Airbus wants to make use of this supply chain for more transport planes, but also for other defence platforms and products, since the Indian military needs about 100 planes.
Furthermore, Airbus and Tata anticipate that their final assembly line in Vadodara, which is scheduled to go online by November 2024, would produce the first C295 in India in 2026.
Brajesh Singh, president, Arthur D. Little India in the report was quoted as saying, , “Airbus and Tata partnering is an example of two giants coming together and building synergies to come up with something remarkable and much needed for economic growth.Such partnerships are bringing in capital from the global market and immense global experience and in turn getting access to skilled manpower, market, local trust of capability and delivery and a brand which has been synonymous of delivering business for the greater goods.”
