The Indo-Russian project to jointly design a transport
aircraft for militaries of both nations kicked off in Moscow on Monday, where
30 engineers from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) began working with
their Russian counterparts from the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) on the $600-million
project.
India
and Russia are also collaborating in a $6-billion project to build an advanced
fighter called the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft.
“Our team in
Moscow informed us today they are now functional at the special design facility
that Russia has set up,” confirms NC Agarwal, the Chief Executive Officer of the joint
venture company, called Multirole Transport Aircraft Ltd (MTA Ltd), which will
design the aircraft.
The
MTA will be capable of carrying 15-20 tonnes of payload; or 80 paratroopers; or
60 stretchers and operate from airfields as difficult as Leh, in Ladakh,
J&K. After completing the design and testing of the MTA in 60 months,
during which five prototypes will also be built, Russia and India will join
hands in building 205 aircraft: 100 for the Russian Air Force (RAF); 45 for the
Indian Air Force (IAF); and 60 for export.
For
the IAF, the MTA would be a much-needed replacement for the already phased out
AN-12 and the ageing AN-32 transport aircraft. The MTA will be a mid-way
choice, being smaller than the AN-12, but bigger than the AN-32. Both those
aircraft were propeller-driven turboprops; the MTA will have a turbofan jet
engine.
The
choice of which engine to use, as also the various systems of the aircraft
which would be bought off the shelf, would be decided jointly, based on economy
as well as suitability.
New
Delhi and Moscow signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) in November 2007;
after which HAL, UAC and MTA Ltd signed a General Contract, an umbrella
document that defines the broad framework of the contract. Then came a
$35-million contract for the Preliminary Design Phase (PDP), signed on October
12, 2012, which provided for a joint HAL-UAC team to work for the next 10
months in Moscow. The team will formalize the MTA’s configuration, basic
performance, its various systems, the engines, and identify alternatives as
well. This will be done to ensure that the RAF’s and IAF’s requirements are
fully met.
While
the PDP is being completed by September-October 2103, another contract will be
signed for the Detailed Design Phase (DDP), in which both sides will take 48
months to complete the design, prototype production and flight-testing of the
MTA in accordance with work shares that have been defined in the contract.
“India
will carry out some 40 per cent of the design work, while Russia will do the
remaining 60 per cent” says Agarwal. “But it will be a collaborative
enterprise, since everything has to come together smoothly, without loss of
time.”
In
production, which is expected to begin by end 2017, HAL and UAC will
respectively manufacture a specified set of parts and modules for all 205 MTAs.
However, the assembly of the IAF aircraft will be done at HAL, Kanpur; and the
assembly of MTAs for the RAF from a production agency that Moscow nominates.
The
crucial aspect of certification will be a collaborative exercise between the
Indian military certification agency, CEMILAC (Centre for Military
Airworthiness Certification) and its Russian counterpart. According to current
plans, the MTA will also meet the certification specifications of the US
Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), which is called FAR-25 (Federal Airworthiness
Requirement – 25), as well as the European JAR-25 (Joint Airworthiness
Requirement – 25). This will make the MTA more attractive to international
buyers.
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