Aero India 2013: Alenia considers regional C-27J production options should it win Indian competition

Alenia Aermacchi will consider using any future Indian production line for its C-27J Spartan transport aircraft to cater for additional regional orders should it be selected to fulfil that country's Light Tactical Transport Procurement Programme requirement, company officials disclosed on 7 February.

Speaking at the Aero India Airshow 2013 at Bangalore, Roberto Leva, head of Sales for Asia and Oceania, said that the move is being considered to make the Indian production line financially viable. With just 40 of the Indian Air Force's (IAF's) planned 56 Avro 748M-replacement platforms being required to be built in-country, the costs do not currently match the expected financial return.

"Is [the local C-27J] production line financially viable? That's a good question," Leva mused.

However, as well as opening up the production line to regional orders beyond India, Leva said that it could well be that the IAF's current stated requirement of 56 aircraft (the first 16 of which will be built on the manufactures current production lines) could well be just an initial expectation, and that further orders may follow. Again, this would go a long way to making a local production line a viable proposition.