India and Russia to ink a deal for the joint development and production of MTA in September

In line with the BrahMos cruise missile project, India and Russia are expected to ink a deal during Defence Minister A K Antony`s Moscow visit next month on setting up of a joint venture for production of state-of-art multi-role transport aircraft (MTA) for their air forces.

The `formal agreement` for floating the MTA JV is expected to be signed in September during Antony`s Moscow visit for the session of Joint Commission on military- technical cooperation, said V Balakrishnan, general manager of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) aircraft manufacturing division.

The Russian government has cleared the formalities for the creation of 50-50 JV and prime minister Vladimir Putin has allocated funds for financing Russia`s share, he said.

From the Indian side HAL will hold 50% equity in the JV.The inter-government agreement for the joint development and production of MTA was inked in 2006 during the then President Putin`s India visit, as the air forces of both the countries are seeking to replace their ageing Soviet-era Antonov series transport aircraft.

Balakrishnan said IAF has evinced interest in acquiring 40 MTA aircraft for transporting troops, military hardware and military cargo with option of buying more aircraft, while the Russian air force has confirmed readiness to acquire 100 planes.

According to earlier reports under the USD 600 million JV, a highly advanced transport aircraft with the capacity of 20 tons and capable of landing on any type of runway, including in the high Himalayan altitudes, would be developed on the basis of Ilyushin Il-214 aircraft.HAL and Ilyushin are to co-design and develop the aircraft.

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