Mahindra Making Push For IAF's Transport Aircraft Contract, C-390 Local Production in Focus

Mahindra Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. is actively strengthening its proposal for the Indian Air Force's (IAF) Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) program, with a high-level team recently visiting Embraer's manufacturing facility in Brazil for an in-depth look at the C-390 transport aircraft.

Earlier this year, Mahindra Aerospace and Embraer Defense & Security announced a strategic partnership aimed at jointly pursuing the MTA contract. This collaboration includes plans for localized production of the C-390 in India if the aircraft is chosen by the IAF.

During their visit to Embraer, the Mahindra team was provided with detailed information about the C-390's capabilities, including the manufacturing process, enhancing their understanding of the aircraft and its potential fit for the IAF. Embraer has also indicated its willingness to customize the C-390 to cater to the IAF's specific requirements, a factor that could be pivotal in the competitive tendering process.

The C-390 Millennium, a multi-mission tactical transport aircraft, boasts high productivity, operating flexibility, and low operating costs. Since entering service with the Brazilian Air Force in 2019, and more recently with the Portuguese Air Force, it has demonstrated its capabilities and reliability.

The Indian Air Force is seeking a medium transport aircraft capable of carrying between 18 and 30 tons of cargo. This procurement is part of the IAF's larger modernization efforts. While Mahindra's partnership with Embraer and the C-390's performance appear promising, the final decision rests with the IAF. The coming months will be crucial in determining the outcome of this competitive tender process.

 

[bonito]

Best MTA as against C-295. Could have leveraged the BRICS forum for furthering the relationship with Brazil.

 

[Frank]

Dear Mahindra Adani Ambani Tata atleast sometime invest in RD.. How long only screw driving??

Except Kalyani no Indian company invest in RD

 

[Anonymus]

Dear Mahindra Adani Ambani Tata atleast sometime invest in RD.. How long only screw driving??

Except Kalyani no Indian company invest in RD

Phele Jo banaya hai wo to lele jis kalyani ki bat kar rahe ho us artillery gun ab Tak induct nahi Kiya hai or sss defence nahi apne guns bana liya uska bhi kuch ata pata nahi hai.
Or 3 Dpsu bhi to screw driving hi kar rahi hai. T90, su30, ak103, bmp 2 etc.
Apne technology banane me time money dono jata hai agar hamari forces agar garuntee they to baat bhi hai Jo wo nahi dengi.

 

[Deepak Hegde]

Dear Mahindra Adani Ambani Tata atleast sometime invest in RD.. How long only screw driving??

Except Kalyani no Indian company invest in RD

First let GOI give orders to private companies for products already invested and made ready by them, rather than giving orders to bloated and incompetent DPSU’s who never deliver anything on time!

 

[GMR]

Dear Mahindra Adani Ambani Tata atleast sometime invest in RD.. How long only screw driving??

Except Kalyani no Indian company invest in RD

They r business houses based on simple economics of Profit & Loss.. they will need some firm commitment from users which will ensure positive returns on their investment in R&D, which will not happen within current established procurement procedure and with DPSU's geting preferential orders.
Also comment on how much the DPSU's invest in R&D?

 

[Ranjeet Singh]

We Indians see Mahindra as Indian Beoing and TATA as Indian Lockheed Martin and Adani as Indian General Atomics !

 

[Frank]

They r business houses based on simple economics of Profit & Loss.. they will need some firm commitment from users which will ensure positive returns on their investment in R&D, which will not happen within current established procurement procedure and with DPSU's geting preferential orders.
Also comment on how much the DPSU's invest in R&D?

no they dont invest in any RD in any sector... leechers they are..

 

[Akshat]

Phele Jo banaya hai wo to lele jis kalyani ki bat kar rahe ho us artillery gun ab Tak induct nahi Kiya hai or sss defence nahi apne guns bana liya uska bhi kuch ata pata nahi hai.
Or 3 Dpsu bhi to screw driving hi kar rahi hai. T90, su30, ak103, bmp 2 etc.
Apne technology banane me time money dono jata hai agar hamari forces agar garuntee they to baat bhi hai Jo wo nahi dengi.

When has SSS gun ever participated in any tender by the army? As for ATAGS, that’s what happens when you let DRDO touch something. A pointless product on which military has to spend exorbitant amounts.

 

[Sandeep]

When has SSS gun ever participated in any tender by the army? As for ATAGS, that’s what happens when you let DRDO touch something. A pointless product on which military has to spend exorbitant amounts.

You can't call the ATAGS a bad gun that's very expensive as DRDO AND TATA developed the gun together which is why it has a very good performance rate and range. The military has conducted trials and passed it so now they have confirmed that they will buy at least 300 guns with the option of more later.

 

[RalphRearden]

Mark my words......in his next term there will be a SWAP deal between India and Brazil............we will produce the C-390 and Brazil will produce the LCA - MK2

 

[Anonymus]

When has SSS gun ever participated in any tender by the army? As for ATAGS, that’s what happens when you let DRDO touch something. A pointless product on which military has to spend exorbitant amounts.

Tender to army nikalegi ke wo bhi sss defence hi kare.
Rahi bat military to hamri foz ki top position holder brainless hai.
Take eg. Of Arjun tank in 1990's army was in fear that Pakistan will induct abhrams tank so they go to drdo to make tank of same class and category drdo made it then army said we can't induct it it's heavy tank really wtf does army don't knew that abhrams is heavy class tank.
In Kargil we need light helicopter drdo made it still not inducted.
Cheetak and cheetah helicopter were old need to replace alh has been made all trails have been completed still no orders.
Hamari foz brainless with no vision hai. Unhe pata hi nahi hai ki unhe chahia kya.
Abhi Hali me next gen tank ki requirement place ki hai jaha unhe 4 manned tank chahia wo hi under 55 ton matlab duniya me ase koi tank hai hi nahi jo 4 manned hai under 55 ton unhe wo wala chahia.
Don't blame drdo blame brainless foz of India.

 

[Sandeep]

While it's good that the Air Force look at many companies to ensure they get the best deal the ideal choice is the Ukrainian Antonov 70 planes. They are the best deal based on the lowest cost and highest technology transfer that other companies won't give. With the war in Ukraine they need a lot of money and their own industry has been destroyed where they can't even manufacture their own transport planes until a long time which is why India can get a better deal compared to the other companies.

But this should be the last medium transport plane that we should ever have to manufacture under a license. After that we should work on developing our own 100% indigenous transport plane.

 

[Akshat]

You can't call the ATAGS a bad gun that's very expensive as DRDO AND TATA developed the gun together which is why it has a very good performance rate and range. The military has conducted trials and passed it so now they have confirmed that they will buy at least 300 guns with the option of more later.

The original tender was for 400+ guns, with options to buy more later on. Now that has been reduced to 300 guns with options. That clearly shows that the gun is super duper expensive. We have to purchase brand new trucks to carry them. That would also mean that the guns would be limited to few sectors and can’t be interoperated as only a few trucks can carry them. This will destroy alll semblance of synergy in the army. The guns are practically nothing but showpieces at this point which are being forced down the throat of the army. That’s why the army is already working on a new gun. The ramifications of ATAGS will be felt in our artillery unit for decades to come. Treason charges must be brought on against the DRDO for this.

 

[Akshat]

Tender to army nikalegi ke wo bhi sss defence hi kare.
Rahi bat military to hamri foz ki top position holder brainless hai.
Take eg. Of Arjun tank in 1990's army was in fear that Pakistan will induct abhrams tank so they go to drdo to make tank of same class and category drdo made it then army said we can't induct it it's heavy tank really wtf does army don't knew that abhrams is heavy class tank.
In Kargil we need light helicopter drdo made it still not inducted.
Cheetak and cheetah helicopter were old need to replace alh has been made all trails have been completed still no orders.
Hamari foz brainless with no vision hai. Unhe pata hi nahi hai ki unhe chahia kya.
Abhi Hali me next gen tank ki requirement place ki hai jaha unhe 4 manned tank chahia wo hi under 55 ton matlab duniya me ase koi tank hai hi nahi jo 4 manned hai under 55 ton unhe wo wala chahia.
Don't blame drdo blame brainless foz of India.

Carbine ka tender tha. Respond kiya? Sniper rifle ka? Assault rifle ke emergency procurement ke liye?

Army’s top brass is far more intelligent than any of us here. Army never asked for a heavy category tank. It asked for a medium category tank from the start. But its requirements were such that the weight will go up (like manual loader with 4 men crew). If you have ever worked in product development, you would know that it is the job of the developer to tell the client that this is not possible or if it can be done. Army is not supposed to know this, else they would have designed it themselves.

Army is ready to induct LUH. But it doesn’t have a simple autopilot. I mean, seriously????

ALH is the acronym for Dhruv. It has been inducted in 100s.

Don’t blame army blame the idiots at DRDO. Army will ask for everything. That’s typical of all clients and is done by every army. Even US hasn’t been able to decide for the last 3 decades if they want a light tank, medium or heavy tank. It’s always the job of the developer to tell the client what is doable and what is not.

 

[Rajesh]

Mahendra has assembled m777 towed guns and did they utilised those expertise into developing anything usefull 🤔 instead kalyani has moved ahead in that field . So which ever private partner we pick should be that company having capabilities and desire to move forward with the tot and expertise rather than just looking into making profits by quoting lowest price which itself doesn't make sense to the already existing dpsu infrastructure setup we have.hope govt and Indian agencies make sure if it .

 

[Sandeep]

The original tender was for 400+ guns, with options to buy more later on. Now that has been reduced to 300 guns with options. That clearly shows that the gun is super duper expensive. We have to purchase brand new trucks to carry them. That would also mean that the guns would be limited to few sectors and can’t be interoperated as only a few trucks can carry them. This will destroy alll semblance of synergy in the army. The guns are practically nothing but showpieces at this point which are being forced down the throat of the army. That’s why the army is already working on a new gun. The ramifications of ATAGS will be felt in our artillery unit for decades to come. Treason charges must be brought on against the DRDO for this.

With any new gun you have to buy new trucks that can tow them anyway and these can shoot and scoot on their own with a long range if necessary. Buying new trucks also helps to grow our military industry even more so it's a benefit to the economy. Obviously there is going to be more guns purchased after 300 so whether they order 400 now and 200 or 300 later doesn't matter because wherever need and capability is necessary then orders are guaranteed. Also there are many types of guns from 105mm or 155mm so not every gun can be ideal in different sectors across the country but if the terrain is similar or the level of threat then the same gun will most likely be used. We are also buying different types of guns such as having towed guns or mounted guns and again which one is used varies across the region. Our military has a large variety of guns either from the government, TATA, Kalyani so we already have the necessary type of guns that our military will ever need that we will never have to import a gun ever. Also the military are not developing a brand new gun at all because we already have whatever is required from our indigenous companies. If they are developing anything new then this is news to everyone including the military so please provide the details if that's even true.

 

[Akshat]

With any new gun you have to buy new trucks that can tow them anyway and these can shoot and scoot on their own with a long range if necessary. Buying new trucks also helps to grow our military industry even more so it's a benefit to the economy. Obviously there is going to be more guns purchased after 300 so whether they order 400 now and 200 or 300 later doesn't matter because wherever need and capability is necessary then orders are guaranteed. Also there are many types of guns from 105mm or 155mm so not every gun can be ideal in different sectors across the country but if the terrain is similar or the level of threat then the same gun will most likely be used. We are also buying different types of guns such as having towed guns or mounted guns and again which one is used varies across the region. Our military has a large variety of guns either from the government, TATA, Kalyani so we already have the necessary type of guns that our military will ever need that we will never have to import a gun ever. Also the military are not developing a brand new gun at all because we already have whatever is required from our indigenous companies. If they are developing anything new then this is news to everyone including the military so please provide the details if that's even true.

Wrong. Army doesn’t always buy trucks and guns together. When army was buying Athos, it had released no such tender at the same time. In fact, no new tender was released even when the trials were over and Athos was declared the lowest bidder. But this time they are buying new trucks before the gun. This has increased the costs exponentially, reducing the total number of orders.

Yes military has a number of guns. But in one category commonality is always maintained. If they buy 105 mm towed gun, then they all are interoperable. Same trucks can carry all of them. But now ATAGS will ruin it all and our entire artillery unit as a whole will be utterly destroyed due to this idiocy of DRDO. Treason charges are a must at this point.

As for new gun, it is news to you only it seems. This very site has talked about such a gun, and PIB has released a letter on behalf of MoD about such a new gun. Article was published on Feb 18 this year.

 

[bonito]

Dear Mahindra Adani Ambani Tata atleast sometime invest in RD.. How long only screw driving??

Except Kalyani no Indian company invest in RD

How long one will be invested in R and D to find the goal post will be changed every couple of year resulting in decision paralysis and zero promise of procurement ? Tell us one just one product which was designed developed inducted within 7 yrs ! No not based on Scorpio or Safari. Some other defence equipment. That's the timeframe a pvt can stay invested without any returns.

 

[Frank]

How long one will be invested in R and D to find the goal post will be changed every couple of year resulting in decision paralysis and zero promise of procurement ? Tell us one just one product which was designed developed inducted within 7 yrs ! No not based on Scorpio or Safari. Some other defence equipment. That's the timeframe a pvt can stay invested without any returns.

The point is these companies don't invest in any rd in any setor...

Mahindra making cars for dacades still they import engines..

 

[Sandeep]

Wrong. Army doesn’t always buy trucks and guns together. When army was buying Athos, it had released no such tender at the same time. In fact, no new tender was released even when the trials were over and Athos was declared the lowest bidder. But this time they are buying new trucks before the gun. This has increased the costs exponentially, reducing the total number of orders.

Yes military has a number of guns. But in one category commonality is always maintained. If they buy 105 mm towed gun, then they all are interoperable. Same trucks can carry all of them. But now ATAGS will ruin it all and our entire artillery unit as a whole will be utterly destroyed due to this idiocy of DRDO. Treason charges are a must at this point.

As for new gun, it is news to you only it seems. This very site has talked about such a gun, and PIB has released a letter on behalf of MoD about such a new gun. Article was published on Feb 18 this year.

So if no new trucks are ordered then how will they tow the gun? Of course new trucks are needed because they can’t use any trucks that they have as they are all committed for one task or another. Also buying new trucks doesn’t mean they reduce the order size at all because more orders will be placed after as well because of the large number we need.

As for interoperability then they will use this gun in large numbers so this 155mm category can be used against Pakistan and China wherever it meets their requirements. So there’s nothing major that will harm the use of the gun or truck to tow it.

One crucial point you left out was that this gun was developed by DRDO and TATA so there’s nothing wrong with it. All militaries around the world never develop the perfect weapon but they end up using whatever they have developed. The only issue is that the gun weighs slightly more but it’s irrelevant because the trucks can tow them and they can move positions on its own but it’s firing capabilities and long range give it a military advantage over other countries. It’s pointless developing a weapon if it doesn’t give you a military advantage which this gun does.

That article is basically saying that they want to buy new lighter weight towed guns and Kalyani and other companies can meet their needs easily and we have the Dhanush which meets the weight category. There was already a large requirement for heavy artillery.