Aerospace firm Embraer launches campaign for transport aircraft to IAF

Two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the Group of Seven Summit in Hiroshima, Brazil has made a strong pitch for providing India with medium transport aircraft (MTA), for which the Indian Air Force (IAF) has issued a global tender.

Launching its MTA campaign in New Delhi on Monday, Brazil’s state-owned aerospace company, Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica S.A. (Embraer S.A. or Brazilian Aeronautics Corporation), briefed the press on the capabilities of its C-390 Millennium cargo lifter, which Embraer executives claimed made it ideal for the IAF.

“An Embraer C-390 Millennium Day will be held in New Delhi on August 29. This event seeks to deepen engagement with the aerospace and defence industry in India and provide more information on Embraer’s suite of defence and security products and solutions, in particular, the C-390 Millennium,” the company announced on Tuesday.

Embraer’s C-390 Millennium MTA was first pressed into operational service in the Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB, or Brazilian Air Force) in 2019. The FAB currently flies 19 Millennium aircraft in its fleet.

Besides these, the Portuguese Air Force flies five C-390 Millennium aircraft, Hungary flies two, and the Netherlands flies five, with additional deliveries on the way.

The IAF is regarded as deficient in medium cargo airlift capabilities. It flies a 11 aircraft fleet of C-17 Globemaster III, a very heavy lift aircraft that can carry 77 tonnes of mixed cargo. On the way out is India’s fleet of 27 Ilyushin II-76 heavy transport aircraft, which have a payload capacity of more than 40 tonnes.

In the tactical airlifter category, the IAF has roughly 100 Antonov An-32 aircraft, which can carry either 7.5 tonnes of cargo, 50 passengers, 42 paratroopers, or 24 patients and three medical crew.

The IAF is also in the process of acquiring 56 C-295 tactical airlifters from Airbus Defence and Space, which can carry 9 tonnes of payload or up to 71 personnel, at a maximum cruise speed of 260 knots (480 kilometre per hour).

Embraer hopes the C-390 Millennium can fill the gap between the heavy C-17 Globemaster III and the light Airbus C-295. The Brazilian aircraft can carry a load of 26 tonnes, placing it in the MTA category — with the ability to airlift 18-30 tonnes of cargo. It can be configured to perform various roles such as troops, VIP, and cargo transportation, as well as the more specialised logistical operation of an aerial refuelling tanker.

Alternatively, the C-390 Millennium can carry a payload of two fully-tracked M-113 armoured personnel carriers, one Boxer armoured vehicle, up to 80 soldiers or 66 paratroopers with full gear, or a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter kitted up with 74 litters with life-support equipment.

In response to the IAF’s tender, vendor companies are required to provide the rough order of magnitude cost of the aircraft. Costing is required to be carried out for three separate batches of aircraft: 40 aircraft, 60 aircraft, and 80 aircraft, respectively.

Bidding companies are required to submit offers following a ‘single stage two-bid system’. Each vendor must present a request for proposal (RFP) that includes technical and commercial offers together but in two separate sealed envelopes. The commercial offers must be valid for at least 18 months.

The technical offers will be evaluated by a technical evaluation committee (TEC) to verify their compliance with the RFP.

Vendors whose equipment has been cleared by the TEC would also undergo trial evaluation in India on a ‘no cost, no commitment’ basis. Staff evaluation would be carried out by service headquarters to analyse the results of the field evaluation and shortlist the equipment for introduction into service.

Finally, a contract negotiation committee will decide the lowest cost bidder (L1) from among the vendors cleared by general staff evaluation.

Deliveries of the MTA are required to commence within 36 months of signing a contract.

Vendors are required to provide product support for the period specified in the RFP. This includes spares and maintenance tools, jigs, and fixtures for field and component-level repairs.

Embraer has made more headway in India with its executive jets than with military aircraft. There are 39 Embraer aircraft flying here: eight military aircraft, eight commercial jets, and 23 executive aircraft.

But now the company’s pitch with the medium transport aircraft could give Embraer sales volume that would make India its biggest and most lucrative market.