Washington: Lockheed Martin is looking to further expand its production capabilities in India if it wins the bid to supply medium transport aircraft for its armed forces, a senior official of the aerospace company said.
In August, India issued a tender for procurement of 60 medium transport aircraft at a cost of USD 10.5 billion.
Five Indian companies — Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), Mahindra Group, Adani Defence & Aerospace, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Reliance Defence — are in the fray for the contract and are expected to bring global aircraft manufacturers into the programme.
The aerospace company said its proposal would include 12 aircraft in flyaway condition and 48 to be manufactured in India. It has also proposed upgrading the Indian Air Force’s existing fleet of 12 C-130Js to the same advanced configuration, which could give the force a common fleet of 72 aircraft.
“We have a long partnership with Tata that produces components and empennages of the C-130J aircraft. It is a very robust capability that will be expanded in our current bid,” Dan Tenney, Senior Vice President, Global Business Development and Strategy at Lockheed Martin, told PTI in response to a question.
“We are looking to expand that capability with production and other things that occur within India,” he said. TASL has partnered with Lockheed Martin for the contract, while Mahindra Group has joined hands with Brazil’s Embraer. Adani Defence & Aerospace, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Reliance Defence are also in the fray and are expected to bring global aircraft manufacturers into the programme.
“So we’re very excited by that. India has been a great partner in helping to enable advanced capabilities for that aircraft and beyond,” Tenney said. He added that if Lockheed Martin and TASL are successful in the bid, the network would be expanded. “So we are looking to do that,” he said.
The IAF’s current C-130J fleet has accumulated more than 58,000 flight hours and has been used for high-altitude operations in Ladakh, humanitarian missions during the Nepal floods and the evacuation of Indian nationals from Sudan in 2023. Lockheed Martin’s pitch centres on expanding production in India while also offering an upgrade path for the existing fleet.
