India prepares to buy 15 C295 maritime patrol variants

Editor’s note: Vivek Raghuvanshi, a journalist and freelancer to Defense News for more than three decades, was jailed in mid-May by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation on charges of espionage. The Indian government has released minimal information on his arrest. Sightline Media Group, which owns Defense News, has not seen any evidence to substantiate these charges and repudiates attacks on press freedom.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — India is moving closer to buying 15 maritime patrol variants of the Airbus C295 aircraft, following permission from the country’s Defence Acquisition Council.

This initial approval from Feb. 16, called acceptance of necessity in Defence Ministry parlance, will see the Navy receive nine C295 medium-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft and the Coast Guard get six C295 multimission maritime aircraft.

Once a contract is signed, a joint venture between the French firm Airbus and the Indian business Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. would manufacture the aircraft in India.

The Air Force previously placed a contract for 56 C295 transport aircraft, of which the first 16 are under production in Spain and the remainder in Tata’s final assembly line in the Indian city of Vadodara.

Although Airbus offers a maritime patrol version of the C295 — Spain ordered 16 in December — the Indian Navy and Coast Guard platforms will receive locally made sensors such as an active electronically scanned array radars, identification friend or foe systems, data links, and electro-optic/infrared technology. The Centre for Airborne Systems, a branch of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, is developing this equipment as part of the government’s efforts toward greater self-sufficiency in defense production.

Medium-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft would help India monitor nearby waters as well as gather electronic and communications intelligence. The aircraft would supplement 12 P-8I aircraft used for anti-submarine warfare.

With around 11 hours of endurance, the variant would also provide longer-range capability than existing Dornier 228 aircraft. The Navy is also set to receive 15 MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones to boost maritime surveillance.

The Indian government has expressed concern about the Chinese military’s activities in the Indian Ocean, and the Indian Navy has carried out anti-piracy operations in the nearby Gulf of Aden since 2008.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard’s C295 variants would conduct maritime surveillance, anti-piracy missions, pollution monitoring, search and rescue, disaster response, and fisheries protection.

The acceptance of necessity brings India’s formal requirement for C295 aircraft to 71.

M. Matheswaran, a retired Indian Air Force air marshal and head of the India-based think tank The Peninsula Foundation, told Defense News that there’s a potential for export opportunities.

“Joining hands with established majors like Airbus is not only [advantageous for] the domestic market, but [also helps it] become part of the global supply chain. Exports are extremely vital for that,” Matheswaran said, predicting Tata could produce 300-400 C295 aircraft.

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

编者按：维韦克·拉古万什（Vivek Raghuvanshi）是一位为《防务新闻》（Defense News）撰稿三十余年的记者和自由撰稿人，于五月中旬被印度中央调查局以间谍罪名逮捕入狱。印度政府对其逮捕事件的披露信息甚少。《防务新闻》的母公司Sightline Media Group表示，他们尚未发现任何证据支持这些指控，并强烈谴责对新闻自由的攻击。

新西兰基督城——在获得该国国防采购委员会的批准后，印度正朝着购买 15 架空客 C295 海上巡逻机的方向迈进。

2 月 16 日的这项初步批准，用国防部的话来说就是“接受必要性”，将使海军获得 9 架 C295 中程海上侦察机，海岸警卫队获得 6 架 C295 多用途海上飞机。

一旦合同签署，法国空中客车公司和印度塔塔先进系统有限公司的合资企业将在印度生产飞机。

空军此前签订了一份 56 架 C295 运输机的合同，其中前 16 架正在西班牙生产，其余的则在印度瓦多达拉市塔塔集团的总装线上生产。

尽管空客公司提供C295海上巡逻机版本——西班牙已于去年12月订购了16架——但印度海军和海岸警卫队的平台将配备国产传感器，例如有源相控阵雷达、敌我识别系统、数据链以及光电/红外技术。国防研究与发展组织下属的机载系统中心正在研发这些设备，这是印度政府为提高国防生产自主性而做出的努力之一。

中程海上侦察机将帮助印度监视附近水域，并收集电子和通信情报。该型飞机将补充印度目前用于反潜作战的12架P-8I飞机。

该型号无人机续航时间约为11小时，比现有的多尼尔228型飞机拥有更远的航程。海军还将接收15架MQ-9B“海上卫士”无人机，以加强海上监视能力。

印度政府对中国军队在印度洋的活动表示关切，印度海军自 2008 年以来一直在附近的亚丁湾开展反海盗行动。

与此同时，海岸警卫队的 C295 型飞机将执行海上监视、反海盗任务、污染监测、搜救、灾害应对和渔业保护等任务。

考虑到实际需要，印度对 C295 飞机的正式需求量达到 71 架。

印度空军退役空军元帅、总部位于印度的智库半岛基金会负责人马特斯瓦兰 (M. Matheswaran) 告诉《防务新闻》，这其中存在出口机会的潜力。

“与空客等老牌巨头携手合作，不仅有利于国内市场，而且有助于其融入全球供应链。出口对此至关重要，”马特斯瓦兰表示，并预测塔塔集团可能生产300-400架C295飞机。

戈登·阿瑟是《防务新闻》的亚洲特派记者。在香港工作20年后，他现居新西兰。他曾到访亚太地区约20个国家，参加过军事演习和防务展览。