The Indian Air Force (IAF) has commenced a process to acquire a Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA). The MTA will be manufactured in the country under the 'Make in India' initiative. According to reports, the MTA will be used for various roles as a transport aircraft and would have a cargo-carrying capacity of between 18 to 30 tonnes. On December 9, 2022, the IAF released a Request for Information (RFI) for the purchase of an MTA. The original deadline for bid submission was February 3 but the same has been extended until March 31. The RFI states that the overall time frame of production and delivery with a stage-by-stage breakdown of the full project will be required to be submitted after the conclusion of the contract. 


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"Within 36 months of contract signing, platform deliveries are expected to start, according to the RFI."


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Earlier, several IAF officials have stated that the C-295MW aircraft which has a cargo-carrying capacity similar to that of the AN-32 would be taken into consideration as a potential replacement for the AN-32. The IAF has recently entered into a contract for getting 56  C-295MW aircraft.


However, the C-295 no longer qualifies since it falls inside the 5-10 tonnes group, while the RFI's weight-carrying capability range is 18 to 30 tonnes. Thus, the IAF is exploring options to replace the AN-32s with a more capable aircraft.


A previous effort to design and construct a 20-ton MTA with Russia to replace AN-32s was scrapped a few years back after initial design discussions.