Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce plan major expansion in India for Air Force deals, eyeing jet engine, naval propulsion programmes

India is preparing to procure up to 80 military transport planes, according to recent reports. US aerospace major Lockheed Martin has pitched its C-130J Super Hercules to the country and said the aircraft will provide it a "stronger" heft for tactical airlift among the Quad nations.

Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce plan major expansion in India

If Lockheed Martin gets the opportunity, then it will build a mega hub in India to produce the "iconic" aircraft, and it will be the first such global facility outside the US, top officials of the company told PTI.

To date, Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 560 aircraft from the C-130J Super Hercules family, totalling more than three million flight hours. The leading tactical airlift has been serving 28 operators in 23 nations.

Meanwhile, British aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce on Sunday said it wants to make India its third ”home market” outside of the UK across various domains, including jet engines, naval propulsion, land systems and advanced engineering.

In an interview with PTI, Sashi Mukundan, the executive vice president of Rolls-Royce India, elaborating on the move, said the company is planning for a "big investment" in the country and listed developing a next-generation aero engine in India as a priority to power the combat jets that New Delhi will produce under the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme.

Besides the UK, Rolls-Royce considers the US and Germany as its "home markets" with a considerable presence, including manufacturing facilities in these two countries.

The Rolls-Royce top executive added that its engine for AMCA could be helpful for India in developing electric propulsion for naval engines.

He further explained that essentially, electric and hybrid propulsion naval engines are marine gas turbines, which are built from the aero engine core.

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