Multiple sources have reported that the Indian Ministry of Defence on August 12, 2026 issued an RFP for the procurement of 60 new multirole transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF), with an option for additional aircraft. The programme is intended primarily to replace the ageing An-32 fleet. ANI reported that the tender has been issued to multiple Indian companies, including Tata, Mahindra and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), with Indian companies expected to play the lead role.
The programme envisages Indian companies tying up with foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to establish local production. According to ANI, around 20% of the aircraft are to be delivered in fly-away condition, with the remainder manufactured in India with more than 60% indigenous content.
According to ThePrint, the MTA is intended to fill the capability gap between the An-32 and Il-76 fleets and could eventually replace both in terms of numbers and capability. The IAF's original 2022 RFI specified a payload of 18–27 tonnes, while subsequent reporting indicates that the upper limit was raised to 30 tonnes.
In an earlier Thumkar post in December 2025, I discussed the foreign OEMs likely to bid for the MTA project and compared the performance of the aircraft they were expected to offer. At that point, however, HAL was not widely known to be in the reckoning. I will therefore focus here on what HAL may have to offer.
On April 3, 2026, The Times of India posted a video concerning the MTA programme. The accompanying commentary, reportedly based on an interaction with HAL CMD D. K. Sunil, indicated that HAL had renewed discussions with Russia regarding a possible joint response to the MTA requirement.
The original Indo-Russian MTA
The original MTA was envisaged as a twin-engine military transport aircraft capable of carrying 12,000 kg over 4,700 km or 20,000 kg over 2,000 km, with operations in all geographical and climatic conditions, including high-altitude airfields up to 3,300 m and unpaved runways.
Its pressurised cargo-compartment cross-section was to be identical to that of the Il-76MD. This would have permitted the use of existing cargo-handling, transportation and airdrop equipment and infrastructure. Russian sources also stated that the aircraft's dimensions, cargo compartment and powerplant would enable it to carry up to 80% of the weapons and military equipment then in Indian service.
India and Russia began negotiations on the aircraft in 1999. HAL records that an agreement to prepare a detailed project report for co-development of the MTA with Russian partners was signed on June 6, 2001. A joint design, development and co-production agreement involving HAL, Ilyushin and Irkut followed in June 2001.
The Indian requirements subsequently differed significantly from the Russian specifications. Ilyushin's General Director said that the Indian requirements delivered in January 2006 were “somewhat different” from the Russian specification, leading to further discussions and a redesign. A new letter of intent was signed on January 24, 2007, followed by a new intergovernmental agreement on joint development on November 12, 2007.
The Preliminary Design Phase (PDP) contract was finally signed on October 12, 2012, and PDP activities commenced on December 1, 2012. HAL's 2012–13 annual report confirms these dates.
HAL's 2013–14 annual report stated that the Joint Technical Preliminary Design Phase had been completed at UAC-TA in Moscow, while the contracts for detailed design, experimental work, prototype fabrication, testing and certification were still being negotiated.
Russia initially planned to power the MTA with the PS-90A, with the then-under-development PD-14 family subsequently envisaged as an alternative.
The engine subsequently became one of the major stumbling blocks.
A contemporary Economic Times report said that the IAF required a full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) system, while Russia had argued that the PS-90's performance did not require such a system. A 2016 interview with UAC President Yuri Slyusar was more explicit: he acknowledged that the PS-90 did not have “full-fledged FADEC” and said that the FADEC requirement had apparently been introduced during the programme.
There were also concerns about the PS-90A-76's ability to operate safely at Himalayan altitudes, including its engine relight capability. Contemporary Indian aviation reporting identified both the relight issue and the absence of full-authority digital engine control as concerns.
On January 13, 2016, Ilyushin CEO Sergey Velmozhkin confirmed to TASS that the Russian-Indian project had been frozen as a joint project.
IL-214 reborn as IL-276
Following India's withdrawal, Russia continued development of the aircraft independently, eventually redesignating it Il-276. It was essentially a further development of the Il-214/MTA concept, with a payload of around 20 tonnes.
In 2024, however, interest in the Il-276 appeared to wane following the emergence of the Il-212 project. The Il-212 is being developed as a replacement for Russia's An-26 and An-72-class transports.
A UAC source quoted in reporting in January 2024 gave the proposed Il-212 a maximum payload of 17 tonnes when powered by two PD-8 turbofans. This is worth treating as a design target rather than a firmly established production specification, since the aircraft remains under development.
Reviving the Il-276 project would nevertheless be an attractive option for HAL because it would build on the considerable design work already undertaken for the Indo-Russian MTA programme and could potentially involve considerably more technology transfer than a straightforward foreign-aircraft assembly arrangement.
However, reviving the mothballed project would inevitably introduce some development and acquisition delay.
There is also the unresolved question of the PS-90A's engine-control system.
Does the PS-90A now have FADEC?
The situation is more complicated than it was in 2015.
Current documentation concerning the PS-90A-76 identifies its control arrangement as:
“BAC (Basic Automatic Control) with EEC (RED-90M) & SAC (Stand-by Automatic Control mode with Electro-hydro-mechanical control system TD-90.”
This indicates that the engine has an electronic engine controller but also a standby electro-hydromechanical control system.
A Russian patent published subsequently describes the RED-90 electronic engine controller as the main device of a digital engine-control system “of the FADEC type” and specifically identifies RED-90 as being used with the PS-90A. The patent also states that the RED-90 samples PS-90A engine parameters at 50 Hz.
This is significant, but I would not yet equate it unequivocally with the Western understanding of a modern, redundant, full-authority FADEC on the PS-90A-76.
Russia has nevertheless continued to modernise the PS-90 family, and the RED-90 is unquestionably a digital electronic engine controller.
Thus, it is possible that a later version of the RED-90M/PS-90A-76 control system has moved closer to, or now actually provides, full-authority digital control. This needs confirmation before the engine can safely be described as having FADEC.
Alternative Russian aircraft
Assuming that the PS-90A-76 does not meet the IAF's FADEC requirement, there has been speculation that HAL could make its MTA pitch with a Russian medium airlifter other than the Il-276, with which it has been closely associated in the past.
Two obvious possibilities would be the Il-212 and Il-76MD-90A.
Neither is a perfect fit for the Indian MTA requirement.
The Il-212, with its reported maximum payload of 17 tonnes, falls just below the 18-tonne lower limit reported for the current requirement. Its major attraction, however, would be its two PD-8 engines. Russia has developed an indigenous electronic automatic-control system for the PD-8, and the engine is intended to be used on the Il-212.
The PD-8 is an all Russian, fuel efficient turbofan engine with FADEC or equivalent, which is comparable to Western military engines.However, the engine is still relatively new and its operational maturity is yet to be established.
The surprising option: IL-76MD-90A
Setting aside the initial incredulity, the Il-76MD-90A, with a maximum payload of approximately 60 tonnes, could make a surprisingly credible MTA solution if operated with payloads in the 18–30 tonne range.
The aircraft would have enormous payload margin relative to the Indian requirement. It also offers a large cargo compartment, rear loading, substantial range and the ability to carry loads far beyond the maximum payload of most of the aircraft competing for the MTA contract.
However, its compliance with the Indian requirement cannot be established from payload alone. The complete RFP would have to be examined for requirements concerning runway performance, high-altitude operation and other relevant parameters.
The principal disadvantage would obviously be operating cost and the fact that the Il-76MD-90A is a much larger aircraft than an 18–30-tonne MTA would appear to require.
On the other hand, India already possesses considerable Il-76 operational and maintenance experience. The IAF also has existing infrastructure and trained personnel associated with the type.
If the RFP does not impose a significant size or operating-cost constraint, and if the RED-90M/PS-90A-76 control system is ultimately demonstrated to satisfy the IAF's FADEC requirement, the Il-76MD-90A could be a very interesting interim solution.
It could provide HAL with a relatively mature platform while buying time to revive and further develop the Il-276, complete its testing and eventually establish indigenous serial production.
