New Delhi, July 20 (KNN) Crew members of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will carry out acceptance trials of India’s first C295 transport aircraft at the Airbus Defence and Space’s Seville facility in southern Spain in early September, reported Hindustan Times.

This will be done before taking delivery of the plane and flying it to India.

It would set in motion a crucial Make in India project worth Rs 21,935-crore project to equip the IAF with 56 such aircraft to modernise its transport fleet, Airbus officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday, reported HT.

Forty of those planes are to be built in India, and work on domestic production is in full swing, the officials said.

The first aircraft completed its maiden flight in May while the second one is in final assembly at Airbus’s Seville facility and will be delivered to IAF in May 2024.

The delivery of the first C295 will come two years after the defence ministry signed the contract with Airbus to boost self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector. Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus are jointly executing the programme.

Six IAF pilots and 20 technicians have been trained at the Seville facility, the final assembly line for the transport aircraft, said Jorge Tamarit, head of the C295 India programme.

Another 18 pilots and 60 technicians will be trained at Seville next year, he said.  (KNN Bureau)