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Telugu Bidda Pilots Key Airbus Defence Projects | Hyderabad News
HYDERABAD: The first ‘Make in India’ aerospace programme in the private sector covering the complete lifecycle of a military transport aircraft has a key Hyderabad connection.
What many perhaps don’t know is that Telugu bidda Venkat Katkuri, who is steering Airbus’ defence and space vertical for India & South Asia as head, was instrumental in Airbus clinching the deal to supply 56 C295 aircraft to India.
The deal, which was finalised in September 2021, was inked by India to replace the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) legacy AVRO fleet.
The Airbus C295 programme will cover the full development of a complete industrial ecosystem — from manufacturing to assembly, testing and qualification, to delivery and maintenance of the complete lifecycle of the aircraft.
Under the contractual agreement, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain and the remaining 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by its Indian partner — Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) — in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two players.
Katkuri pointed out that the two companies are in the process of finalising the location for the local manufacturing of the C295 and that Hyderabad too was on the radar given TASL’s extensive manufacturing footprint in and around the city.
He said Airbus will also be working with public sector enterprises like BEL (electronic warfare suit) and BDL (counter measure dispensing system) for C295 progamme. Prior to Airbus, Katkuri worked with Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), as well as SES Singapore.
What many perhaps don’t know is that Telugu bidda Venkat Katkuri, who is steering Airbus’ defence and space vertical for India & South Asia as head, was instrumental in Airbus clinching the deal to supply 56 C295 aircraft to India.
The deal, which was finalised in September 2021, was inked by India to replace the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) legacy AVRO fleet.
The Airbus C295 programme will cover the full development of a complete industrial ecosystem — from manufacturing to assembly, testing and qualification, to delivery and maintenance of the complete lifecycle of the aircraft.
Under the contractual agreement, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain and the remaining 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by its Indian partner — Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) — in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two players.
Katkuri pointed out that the two companies are in the process of finalising the location for the local manufacturing of the C295 and that Hyderabad too was on the radar given TASL’s extensive manufacturing footprint in and around the city.
He said Airbus will also be working with public sector enterprises like BEL (electronic warfare suit) and BDL (counter measure dispensing system) for C295 progamme. Prior to Airbus, Katkuri worked with Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), as well as SES Singapore.
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