BY : PTI

Italian firm Alenia Aeronautica, one of the partner companies of the Eurofighter consortium, is in talks with Tata group to promote the possible sale of a tactical transport aircraft and anti-submarine warfare aircraft for the Indian defence forces.

Alenia Aeronautica, which has already signed an MoU with the Tatas, is negotiating a marketing and industrial co-operation agreement to promote the C-27J Spartan tactical transport and ATR 42/72 anti-submarine warfare aircraft to the Indian services, a leading aviation journal said.

If the negotiations are successful, the MoU will be converted into a true contract, 'The Flight International' said.
When contacted, a Tata spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the report, saying "we would not like to comment on the matter."

Alenia has offered Tata some industrialisation tools for the C-27J under the initiative, which is aimed at offering the twin-turboprop design to the Indian Air Force "in case current efforts to co-operatively develop a new Multi Role Transport Aircraft (MRTA) by Hindustan Aeronautics and Irkut fail", the report said.

The MRTA programme, which is a development of the Ilyushin Il-214 twin-turbofan with a maximum cargo capacity of around 18-20t, has faced numerous troubles in recent years, it said, adding that it was "still not clear whether the project will be finalised".