Italian firm in talks with Tata for military aircraft

Italian firm Alenia Aeronautica, one of the partner companies of the Eurofighter consortium, is in talks with Tata group to promote the possible sale of a tactical transport aircraft and anti-submarine warfare aircraft for the Indian defence forces. 

Alenia Aeronautica, which has already signed an MoU with the Tatas, is negotiating a marketing and industrial co-operation agreement to promote the C-27J Spartan tactical transport and ATR 42/72 anti-submarine warfare aircraft to the Indian services, a leading aviation journal said.  

If the negotiations are successful, the MoU will be converted into a true contract, 'The Flight International' said.     

When contacted, a Tata spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the report, saying "we would not like to comment on the matter."  

Alenia has offered Tata some industrialisation tools for the C-27J under the initiative, which is aimed at offering the twin-turboprop design to the Indian Air Force "in case current efforts to co-operatively develop a new Multi Role Transport Aircraft (MRTA) by Hindustan Aeronautics and Irkut fail",  the report said.     

The MRTA programme, which is a development of the Ilyushin Il-214 twin-turbofan with a maximum cargo capacity of around 18-20t, has faced numerous troubles in recent years, it said, adding that it was "still not clear whether the project will be finalised".