New Delhi, Oct 27 (Reporter) The first indigenous multi-role and strategic cargo aircraft C-295 will be ready in about two years at the manufacturing unit in Vadodara, Gujarat, and 39 more aircraft will be supplied to the Indian Air Force from this unit in the next five years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will inaugurate this manufacturing unit in Vadodara on Monday. This unit has been built in a time span of only two years, and the manufacturing of aircraft will start in December. In September 2021, the Defence Ministry had signed a contract worth Rs 21,935 crore with Spanish company Airbus Defence & Space SA for the purchase of 56 cargo aircraft for the IAF. Of these, 16 aircraft are to be in a fly-away condition, while 40 will be manufactured in the country by the Indian company Tata Advanced Systems Limited in Vadodara. Of the 16 fully completed aircraft, six have been received by the IAF so far. The remaining 10 aircraft will be supplied by August next year. These aircraft will replace the IAF's aging Avro cargo aircraft. These aircraft were purchased in the 1960s. Senior officials from the Defence Ministry said on Sunday that manufacturing work will start at the Vadodara unit from December, and the first aircraft in the country will be ready in September 2026, and the remaining 39 aircraft will be made by August 2031. The C-295 is a new generation versatile tactical airlift aircraft capable of conducting airlift missions in all weather conditions, day and night. The aircraft has modern technology and avionics and is probably the best in its class with a payload of 9.5 tonnes. Officials said that along with these aircraft, a full mission simulator has also been installed at the Air Force station in Agra. They said a major part of the components, sub-assemblies, and major aerostructure assemblies for the 40 aircraft to be built in India are planned to be manufactured in India. Apart from aero engines and avionics, other structural parts will mostly be made in India. Of the 14,000 detailed parts used in this aircraft, 13,000 will be made from raw materials in India. Officials said that a total of 37 companies have already been identified for this, out of which 33 are MSMEs. All 56 aircraft will be equipped with an electronic warfare suite that will be indigenously manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL). The first 16 aircraft to be manufactured in the country will have 48 percent indigenous content, which will be increased to 75 percent in the subsequent 24 aircraft. The number of man hours that Airbus employs to manufacture an aircraft in Spain will gradually be shifted to India. Initially it will be 78 per cent for the first five aircraft, which will increase to 96 per cent for the remaining 35 aircraft. The project is expected to create 600 highly skilled jobs directly, over 3,000 indirect jobs, and an additional 3,000 middle-skilled employment opportunities with over 42.5 lakh man-hours of work in the aerospace and defence sectors. Officials said the C-295 project is a major achievement for Indian private industry as it is the first project of its kind in which a full-fledged military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company. This project will boost the aerospace ecosystem in India. They said that if everything goes according to plan, India will have its first fifth generation advanced fighter aircraft in the coming 10 years. Officials said that India is progressing very fast in defence sector manufacturing, and India, which was once the largest defence importer in the world, is now exporting to about 100 countries, including America and France. The figure of defence production in the country has increased from Rs 46,429 crore to Rs 127,265 crore in the last 10 years. Similarly, defence exports have increased from Rs 1941 crore to Rs 21083 crore...////...