The Finmeccanica Company claims that the medium military airlifter C-27J Spartan on offer to the BSF and IAF is the best and sees the Coast Guard, NSG and the IN as potential buyers

India’s diverse borders and the growing internal insurgencies seem to have given rise to the need for more number of newgeneration medium military airlifters. While the Indian Air Force (IAF) has released a request for information (RFI) for 16 medium military aircraft, the Border Security Force (BSF) has a request for proposal (RFP) for two such aircraft. But senior officials at Alenia Aeronautica and its parent company Finmeccanica believe that the real requirement could be much more. Asserting that the C-27J Spartan is the perfect aircraft for both the military and paramilitary forces in India, the company estimates that the country may require 50-100 medium military airlifters in the near future.

“When we beat against the requirement, we always win. C-27J Spartan is highly cost effective, has extreme operational flexibility and is the only aircraft of its class offering interoperability with heavier airlifters,” claimed Roberto Leva, Country Director-India, Alenia Aeronautica, while briefing SP Guide Publications on the varied capabilities of the C-27J Spartan at New Delhi. The company asserted that unlike other military aircraft which were at first built as passenger aircraft, the C-27J Spartan was originally manufactured for the military. Leva said, “C-27J has been designed to be fully autonomous even in remote areas and in volatile regions of the country like Kashmir. Its load mission kits, altitude variation capability, auxiliary power unit, low fuel consumption, real redundancy, and powerful engine to escape easily, ballistic protection, manoeuverability, interoperability because of smaller fuselage and compatibility with Lockheed Martin’s C-130J makes it apt to operate in Indian conditions.” “The C-27J is also perfect as a civil aircraft and good for humanitarian support and medical evacuation. It has 36 stretchers with oxygen points,” he added.

C-27J Spartan is a contender for BSF’s requirement for two military aircraft. Trials for the purpose were done in July last year at Bengaluru and Leh. The company officials, however, believe that apart from the Indian Coast Guard, the National Security Guard and the Indian Navy can also be potential buyers of the C-27J. But the officials, hopeful of good business in India, are unhappy about the lowest bid (L1) factor in defence procurement. “It is difficult to compare our products with others. I believe the best way as can be seen in some countries is to evaluate what is called value for money. It is not just personal evaluation; value for money can also be determined through calculations of the amount spent on transportation. Our aircraft can load 11.5 tonnes. If you calculate how much it costs to move 1 tonne, than it makes more sense. There is another aspect—the productivity—the mix of payload speed and range. Our aircraft has bigger payload, goes faster, can transfer more goods in the same timeframe, and has longer range. If you look at productivity, you can see that the average can be much bigger. The productivity of C-27J Spartan is better than other aircraft. It has the capability to move the cargo from one point to the other at a faster speed,” claimed Leva.

On being asked about their views on the proposed hike in foreign direct investment (FDI) from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, Paolo Girasole, Country Head-India, Finmeccanica, said that FDI is a pain in the neck. “A company is an Indian, Italian or US company according to many things and not only the share. I think 26 per cent is a limitation,” he said.