India and
Russia have given the green light to their Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA)
joint venture, United Aircraft said following a signing ceremony in New Delhi.
"A
contract was signed by the client, the joint Indian-Russian MTAL venture, and
the contractors, Hindustan Aeronautics and United Aircraft Corporation
Transport Planes," the Russian company announced on 12 October.
BillyPix
The Medium
Transport Aircraft was on show in model form at Aero India 2011
The signing
gives an official start to the long-planned project, which Indian politicians
had said could be scrapped if it was delayed any further.
Indian
daily The Hindu had reported that defence minister A K Antony had expressed
concerns, and cited other sources saying a further slippage would be
advantageous to rival aircraft such as Embraer's KC-390 transport/tanker.
"A
long and complex preparatory phase in every sense has been completed for the
project, which involves joint financing and workshare, and creation from
scratch of a new plane for the air forces of both nations," says United
Aircraft. A large group of Indian aerospace engineers will arrive in Moscow in
the near future to start work on the programme, it adds.
The MTA
will be a twin-engined transport with a maximum take-off weight of 65t,
including an 18-20t payload, a 30m (98ft) wingspan, and a top speed of 434kt
(800km/h). The aircraft is designed to replace the Antonov An-32 and Hawker
Siddeley HS 748 in Indian service, and the An-26 and An-30 for Russia.
Earlier
this year, United Aircraft president Mikhail Pogosyan told Flightglobal he
expects New Delhi to eventually acquire 45 of the new type, with Moscow to
order 100 and export customers to take up to another 60.
By: Howard Gethin, Moscow
12 Oct 2012
Source: Flight International
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