By NC Bipindra
New Delhi/Rio de Janeiro: Brazil’s Embraer is confident that India’s long-anticipated military transport aircraft tender is finally moving from intent to action. Speaking on the sidelines of a global airline executives’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday (June 6, 2026), Embraer Chief Executive Francisco Gomes Neto said India is expected to issue a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) covering between 60 and 80 aircraft in the coming months.
“The information we have is that the RFP should come in the next few months,” Reuters reported, quoting Gomes Neto. “And what we hear in the Indian market is that they want to make a decision by the end of 2027, which would be a very interesting time frame,” he added. The statement marks one of the clearest timelines yet offered by any industry stakeholder on the Indian Air Force’s Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) programme, a multi-billion dollar procurement that promises to reshape India’s military airlift capability and its aerospace manufacturing ecosystem.
What Is the MTA Programme?
India’s MTA programme is entering a decisive phase, with the IAF set to acquire between 60 and 80 aircraft in the 18-tonne to 30-tonne payload class to replace its ageing An-32 fleet and reduce reliance on the Il-76. The MTA programme is designed to bridge the gap between the lighter C-295 and the heavy C-17 Globemaster. Once inducted, it would form the backbone of India’s tactical and strategic airlift capability. The MTA will enable rapid troop deployment, logistics support, humanitarian relief, and operations in high-altitude regions such as Ladakh.
Valued at approximately ₹1 trillion ($11 billion), the MTA procurement will follow the ‘Buy and Make (Indian)’ route of the Defence Acquisition Procedure. The MTA procurement plan envisages 12 aircraft in fly-away condition from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and the remaining 48 to 68 to be manufactured in India through partnerships with the domestic industry.
The RFI and the Road to RFP
The IAF issued a Request for Information (RFI) in December 2022 to foreign OEMs, specifying an aircraft with a load-carrying capacity of 18 tonnes to 27 tonnes. The RFI also sought a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost for batches of 40, 60, and 80 aircraft, and asked companies to outline the scope of technology transfer, indigenisation capability, and their ability to ensure domestic manufacture of systems, subsystems, components, and spares.
Earlier this year, the IAF also sent in a second RFI with a raised ceiling of 30 tonnes, a move that potentially opened the door to Japanese participation via Kawasaki’s C-2 transport. The forthcoming RFP is expected to be far more specific than the earlier RFI, which had vaguely projected a requirement ranging between 60 and 80 aircraft. The sharper definition is seen as a signal that the IAF is moving decisively from exploratory consultations to an acquisition-ready phase.
What the IAF Is Looking For
The IAF’s requirements go well beyond payload tonnage. An absolute prerequisite for the winning aircraft is the proven ability to operate from the punishing environments of Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) in the Himalayas, such as the Daulat Beg Oldie airstrip. Both the IAF and the Indian Army have also expressed a strong desire for the MTA to be capable of carrying the 25-tonne Zorawar Light Tank to forward positions, a requirement that significantly narrows the field of viable competitors.
The IAF plans to receive 20% of the fleet in fly-away condition from the OEM, with the remaining 80% manufactured domestically. India will mandate at least a 60% indigenous content in the locally made fleet. This will compel the foreign OEMs to integrate Indian-developed systems into their platforms through their partnership with Indian companies.
A Four-Way Global Contest
Embraer C-390 Millennium (Brazil): Embraer’s C-390 Millennium, a jet-powered platform with a 26-tonne payload, offers higher cruise speeds than its turboprop rivals. Embraer has partnered with India’s Mahindra Group for bidding for the MTA programme, thus committing to technology transfer and local manufacturing. The CEO’s bullish comments in Rio reflect the Brazilian firm’s view of India as a strategic priority market.
Airbus A400M Atlas (Europe): The A400M, with its turboprop configuration, delivers a greater payload capacity of up to 37 tonnes and strong short-field performance, but its high unit cost of $200 million to $220 million makes it economically challenging for a large fleet requirement, and it may be seen as oversized for routine tactical missions.
Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules (USA): Lockheed Martin is considering establishing the first C-130J Super Hercules final assembly line outside the United States in India, a significant industrial incentive. Already in IAF service, the C-130J has proven its operational prowess in Indian conditions and has met IAF requirements. Yet, as a turboprop design dating to the 1950s, it may fall short of modern efficiency standards. Lockheed Martin already has a tie-up with Tata Advanced Systems for joint manufacturing of the C-130 parts in India.
Kawasaki C-2 (Japan): Japan’s Kawasaki C-2 emerged as a potential dark horse the moment IAF issued a second RFI, raising the payload ceiling to 30 tonnes. While bilateral defence ties between India and Japan have strengthened considerably in recent years, Kawasaki’s aircraft has yet to see the level of public engagement with the Indian industry that its Western rivals have pursued.
Russia’s IL-276: Russia has re-entered the race with the IL-276 proposal in collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). While continuity with India’s existing Russian-origin fleets is an argument in its favour, doubts linger over timelines, financing, and the reliability of Russian defence supplies in the post-Ukraine war environment.
Strategic and Industrial Implications for India
The MTA programme is as much an industrial policy statement as it is a defence procurement. The MTA programme will shape not just the IAF’s airlift capabilities but also India’s aerospace manufacturing ecosystem. With at least 80 aircraft on order, the project is valued at several billion dollars. This makes the MTA one of the largest transport aircraft programmes outside NATO.
Tata Advanced Systems, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and Larsen & Toubro are expected to play key roles in licensed production and assembly. This will strengthening India’s aerospace ecosystem under the Make in India initiative. The procurement also reflects India’s broader push to build indigenous sustainment and manufacturing capacity, moving from ‘Make in India’ to ‘Maintain in India’.
The MTA programme is therefore more than a fleet renewal; it is a strategic investment in India’s long-term aerospace and defence autonomy. “The most important advantage lies in the potential for manufacturing in India,” former Deputy Chief at Headquarters of Integrated Defence Staff Air Marshal M. Matheswaran (Retired) was quoted by a Bharat Shakti report as saying. “Brazil is more likely to offer favourable technology transfer terms than either the US or Europe. It could directly support India’s ambition of developing its own civil airliner,” he said.
Looking Ahead
With the RFP expected before the end of 2026 and a procurement decision targeted for 2027, the MTA competition is entering its most consequential phase. The winning bid will not only determine which aircraft fills India’s critical airlift gap for the next several decades, but will also define which foreign OEM earns the deepest industrial footprint in one of the world’s fastest-growing defence markets.
For Embraer’s Gomes Neto, speaking from Rio de Janeiro, the prize is clearly worth pursuing. For India’s aerospace sector and its HALs, Tatas, Mahindras, and thousands of MSMEs, the stakes may be even higher.
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