IAF’s Soviet-Era An-32 Transport Aircraft to Fly Until 2040 with Major Indigenous Overhaul by Private-Public Sector

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has initiated a major programme to extend the service life of its rugged Antonov An-32 transport fleet until at least 2040.

This life-extension will be achieved through a comprehensive overhaul conducted within India, marking a significant step in the nation's push for self-reliance in defence maintenance.

The project will see IAF’s Base Repair Depots collaborating with private Indian companies to modernise at least 60 aircraft.

The An-32, a Soviet-era workhorse, is indispensable to the IAF for maintaining its supply lines, especially to high-altitude airfields in the northern and northeastern border regions.

This initiative, announced in June 2025, directly supports the government's 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) policy by developing a domestic ecosystem for complex military aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO).

First inducted in 1984, the An-32 has been a cornerstone of the IAF's tactical airlift capability for four decades.

Known in IAF service as the "Sutlej," the aircraft is renowned for its robust design and exceptional short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities in challenging environments.

It can operate from remote, high-elevation airstrips like those in Ladakh, which are over 10,000 feet above sea level, making it a critical asset for sustaining troops deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the Line of Control (LoC).

The twin-engine aircraft can transport up to 6.7 tons of cargo or 50 equipped soldiers.

Over the years, the An-32 fleet has been pivotal in both military and humanitarian missions, including disaster relief during the 2013 Uttarakhand floods and the 2015 Nepal earthquake. However, the ageing of the airframes and reliance on foreign-origin avionics have presented significant operational challenges.

A 2017 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) highlighted that the serviceability rate of the fleet had dropped to as low as 40%, largely due to difficulties in procuring spare parts—a problem intensified by geopolitical tensions involving its country of origin, Ukraine.

To counter these issues and enhance operational readiness, the IAF's overhaul programme will be spearheaded by its own maintenance facilities, such as the No. 1 Base Repair Depot in Kanpur, working in tandem with the Indian private sector. This public-private partnership aims to upgrade the aircraft comprehensively.

The modernisation will involve detailed structural refurbishment to repair metal fatigue and corrosion, overhauling the AI-20D engines for better performance, and replacing outdated cockpit systems with modern digital avionics and navigation aids like GPS.

A key objective of the programme is to indigenise the production of critical spare parts, thereby reducing dependence on foreign suppliers and insulating the fleet from global supply chain disruptions.

This effort builds upon a previous upgrade programme initiated in 2009 with Ukrainian assistance, which modernised 40 An-32s.

The current initiative is more ambitious, aiming to bring the operational availability of the fleet to over 70%, in line with the IAF's modernisation goals set in 2023.

 

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[Somnath Sinhababu]

Why 2040? Use it for eternity. I have never seen any country so compromised on national security. Why are we not going forward with the MTA program? We have very good offers from different vendors. Avro has offered a good deal regarding MTA, but as I said, the current government is suffering from a lack of decision-making, and these babus will never ever do something that will benefit us. No hope from the current government, same as usual. No difference between the previous and current government. The current government is one step further: only election and media management.

 

[Baiju Bhaskaran]

What is the purpose of extending the life of AN-32 when we have already C-295 in operation and local production? Order more C-295s if required.

 

[abhinav srivastava]

Encourage private companies to form a consortium to develop such a plane by 2040. Incentivise them. Also, plan to have a civilian variant of it. Create testing infrastructure in the country. GTRE should work on a 3200KW engine which can power it.

 

[Mayank393]

Why to use this older platform aren't we are replacing this with airbus c295 ?

 

[Kira]

I think there is no point beating a dead horse if it was a reliable one. This is only going to lead to serious security and safety issues such as crashes etc.

I believe since the C-295M already meets and exceeds the capabilities of the An-32, it's better to steadily replace the latter with the former, especially since it is already being manufactured in the country.

 

[Mc Addy]

Pull them till 2060 , why 2040, full total faliure in short is evident.

 

[qertninja]

Good decision. When the USA can fly B-52 bombers for 70 years, India can too.

 

[SK]

I hope that the IAF will consider replacing the ageing An-32s with additional C-295 aircraft from the Tata-Airbus JV.

 

[ZEBT]

Good decision. When the USA can fly B-52 bombers for 70 years, India can too.

There is a difference between Soviet junk and a B-52. Say whatever you want, but the Soviet Aerospace complex has been nowhere near the US Aerospace complex for all of history.

 

[Sandeep]

While we are ordering 56 C-295 planes there’s a good chance that we will need to order a lot more of these planes as their performance on range and payload capacity is much higher than the An-32.

We should definitely make a comprehensive upgrade of the An-32 and increase the technology, lifespan and air frames etc. This will remain in service for a longer period as they are suited to our northern border in the freezing and cold weather conditions.

 

[pgahlot]

I have said many times that we should go ahead with Embraer C-390 under full TOT (which they are ready as well). It's a wonderful plane and can be used as refueller as well.

 

[qertninja]

There is a difference between Soviet junk and a B-52. Say whatever you want, but the Soviet Aerospace complex has been nowhere near the US Aerospace complex for all of history.

The Soviets prioritized quantity over quality, focusing more on mechanical engineering than electronic engineering. Present-day Russia is struggling to match Soviet-era technology. Even the Su-57 appears to be a souped-up Flanker, and there's a perceived lack of trust in it, leading to offers to sell it to India. If the aircraft were truly effective, Russia would likely have established a significant degree of control over the skies of Ukraine by now.