Government of India

Ministry of Defence

Rajya Sabha

Question No. 1595

Answered on 08.07.2019

Deployment of AN 32 aircraft in the North East

1595. SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:

(a)whether Government is aware that many AN-32 aircraft in action in the North-East are not upgraded;

(b)the number of AN-32 aircrafts that required upgrade in advance avionics, navigation and communication equipment;

(c)timeline by which the upgrade of Indian Air Force’s AN-32 aircrafts will be complete; and

(d) whether Government will stop use of non-upgraded AN-32 aircrafts in the North-East?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK

(a)to (d) 41 number of aircraft in the AN-32 fleet of IAF require upgradation in advanced avionics, navigation and communication equipment. The upgradation programme of AN-32 is under progress, which is planned to be completed by 2024-25. AN-32 aircraft is the workhorse of the Indian Air Force transport fleet and is used to sustain army troops in far flung areas of North-East. All AN-32 aircraft presently have useful residual life and are fully air worthy.

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