Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have signed a MoU under which HAL will convert pre-owned civil passenger aircraft into air refuelling aircraft with cargo and transport capabilities.
The move, will provide India’s defence ecosystem with new capabilities and cost effective solutions in the market,” said the IAF.
“The MoU will facilitate HAL and IAI’s decades’ long expertise in developing, manufacturing and producing leading defence platforms. The scope of the MoU also covers ‘passenger to freighter aircraft’ conversion, along with MMTT conversions.
IAI has experience in modified aircraft for the IAF. In the early 2000s, IAI fitted the Phalcon radar into three IAF IL-76 aircraft, converting them into Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS).
With the Russian options considered outdated, the IAF will probably have to choose between the Airbus and Boeing options.
The Airbus 330 MRTT carries more fuel than the KC-46A Pegasus – 111 tonnes, as against 96 tonnes – but which remains in many respects a civilian airliner that retains commercial airline-style seating inside for 291 passengers. The KC-46A Pegasus has modular, military style, palletised seating that can be quickly bolted on for up to 160 passengers. Alternatively, it can carry 54 stretchers with patients.
The KC-46A’s tanker-specific avionics include state-of-the-art displays developed for the 787 Dreamliner. The USAF has insisted on the “boom operator” – who operates the boom that pumps fuel at 1,200 gallons per minute into the aircraft being refuelled – having a three-dimensional view from seven cameras that look to the rear.
Airbus, however, points out that its A330-200 has won practically every MRTT contest in the world. It has logged orders from the air forces of Australia, the UK, France, Saudi Arabia, The Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, and the UAE.
For the past decade-and-a-half, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has been trying to buy six MMTT aircraft to supplement its eight obsolescent Russian Illyushin-78 refuellers.
