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Indian Air Force's medium transport aircraft acquisition gathers pace

Airbus, Lockheed Martin and Embraer in the race to replace IAF's ageing AN-32 and IL-76 transport aircraft

Embraer C-390 Millennium | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Bhaswar Kumar

1 min read Last Updated : Mar 03 2026 | 8:01 PM IST

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The Defence Procurement Board (DPB) of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Tuesday recommended moving ahead with the proposal to procure 60 medium transport aircraft (MTA) for the Indian Air Force (IAF), a defence source told Business Standard.

The programme — with Airbus, Lockheed Martin and Embraer in contention — now awaits approval from the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) and the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

Upon finalisation of the deal, 12 aircraft will be acquired in fly-away condition, while the remaining 48 will be manufactured domestically.

Falling in the 18–30 tonne load-carrying capacity category, the MTA is intended to replace both the IAF’s ageing Russian-origin AN-32 and IL-76 transport aircraft fleet.

The IAF issued a Request for Information (RFI) in December 2022 for up to 80 MTAs. Responses were received from Airbus for the A-400M, Lockheed Martin for the C-130, and Embraer for the C-390.