“We spent more than two years researching the Indian private aerospace sector”

Airbus Defence & Space, a division of the Airbus Group, has submitted a bid to replace the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Avro aircraft. If the contract gets signed, Airbus Defence & Space will supply the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away' condition from its own assembly line, the subsequent 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled together with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) in India. The IAF’s replacement of its fleet, the Hindustan Aeronautics-built HS748, is a $3-billion project. Airbus Group aims to achieve $2 billion in cumulative sourcing from India by 2020. Pierre de Bausset, President, Airbus Group India , and Venkat Katkuri, Head of Airbus Defence and Space in India , spoke to BusinessLine about the new-age aircraft that will replace the IAF Avro fleet, and about securing the cream of the Indian private aerospace sector (TASL) as a partner. Edited excerpts:

The Indian government has awarded a record 56 defence manufacturing permits to private sector entities in the past year. By tying up with Indian companies, how is the Airbus Group helping the government in its ‘Make in India’ initiative?

Pierre de Bausset : Airbus Group is acutely conscious of India’s aspirations to increase the strength of its private aerospace sector through ‘Make in India'. We have an excellent record in creating highly productive manufacturing collaborations within nations around the world. In the case of the Avro replacement programme, we are offering the C295, wherein, with Tata, we will support the Indian private sector in making a significant leap to creating a modern and efficient aircraft assembly line (FAL), fed from an ecosystem of domestic suppliers, and in initiating the production of a market-leading military transport aircraft. On the helicopters side, we have teamed up with Mahindra to produce helicopters, both military and civil, locally.

Could you give us an idea about the Indian firms that Airbus Defence & Space has partnered with?

Pierre de Bausset : Most of Airbus Group’s partnerships in India have been on commercial aircraft, helicopters and satellites. We are a manufacturer and an integrator that sustains a very deep supply chain, and hence buying from numerous Indian industry players is one of our ways of making in India.

In fact, there are Indian components on every Airbus commercial aircraft built nowadays. We are really excited at the prospect of implementing a major collaboration in the military aircraft world with Tata.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), its commercial arm Antrix, and we have jointly designed and built communication satellites in India for European operators. Not only this, we use Indian launchers to put our satellites in orbit, the most recent examples being SPOT 6, SPOT 7 and DMC-3, while Indian satellites use our launchers.

Airbus Defence & Space and TASL are to replace IAF’s fleet of 56 Avro aircraft with the Airbus C295 medium transport. Can you give us some information about the bid that has been made? What is its current status?

Venkat Katkuri : We have submitted a bid which we believe meets the Indian requirements for this project. We would build the first 16 aircraft at our existing facilities in Spain, and the remainder would be built along with Tata at a facility in India.

It is important to understand that although it has been agreed to move ahead with the project, we still have to complete the technical evaluation of the C295 for the IAF. We expect to bring the aircraft to India soon to undergo the field evaluation trials.

Prior to selecting TASL as your exclusive partner for this programme, Airbus would have conducted an evaluation of the Indian private aerospace sector. Can you tell us on what criteria did Airbus seal the deal with TASL?

Pierre de Bausset : We spent more than two years researching the Indian private aerospace sector extensively, and in great depth, in order to understand the true capabilities of the many companies working in this area. We wanted a relationship to be based on a sound business case and to be sustainable for many years to come.

The first filter was the eligibility criteria for the Indian partner as specified in the tender, but more than that we were looking for a company that had the in-depth engineering experience and resource to develop the capability to build a modern aircraft, as well as one which could absorb the required level of technology that we want to provide in India. Tata’s wealth of experience in diverse engineering fields and in aerospace manufacturing made it an excellent candidate.

What about the other Indian players researched prior to selecting TASL?

Pierre de Bausset : We scouted the sector inside out, shortlisted a number of good companies and were won over by TASL’s attitude towards this opportunity.

Why is the C295 the best aircraft to replace the IAF Avro fleet?

Venkat Katkuri : The C295 has been a great success for us, and in the last couple of years, it has completely dominated sales of this class of aircraft. We have sold more than 160 now to operators in 22 countries.

Airbus Defence & Space has been in the transport aircraft business for many decades, and the C295 is now a highly optimised combination of sophistication and robustness. It has the longest unobstructed cargo hold in its class, which is crucial for military day-to-day operations, excellent flying performance in terms of range and speed, but it is also incredibly tough and is able to take the knocks that inevitably happen in transport operations.

Plus its ‘hot and high’ performance is outstanding at airfields in hot summers and at altitude where other types are badly restricted. These capabilities have been proven in the difficult environment of Afghanistan, for example. Moreover, it is in service in hot and dusty environments in Egypt and Algeria, jungle conditions in Brazil, and extreme cold in Finland. We have improved the aircraft through the addition of winglets (which are small auxiliary wings on the tips of the main wings) and increased engine power, which is a big advantage in hot weather.

Correction

It is the Airbus Group that aims to achieve $2 billion in cumulative sourcing from India by 2020, and not Airbus Defence & Space, as an earlier version said.

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