{"id":27086,"date":"2026-09-21T20:36:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T20:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=27086"},"modified":"2026-09-21T20:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T20:36:35","slug":"ready-for-tech-transfer-of-some-parts-of-super-hercules-to-india-says-lockheed-vp-calls-aircraft-best-option-for-iaf-as-mta-tender-is-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=27086","title":{"rendered":"Ready for tech transfer of some parts of Super Hercules to India, says Lockheed VP; calls aircraft \u2018best option for IAF\u2019 as MTA tender is out"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"XYebw\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"IYpL4\">\n<section class=\"lIbak  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  mR3IZ \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"lIbak\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"dV65i\">\n<div class=\"gF0tM\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134397523,imgsize-119334,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg\" alt=\"Ready for tech transfer of some parts of Super Hercules to India, says Lockheed VP; calls aircraft \u2018best option for IAF\u2019 as MTA tender is out\" title=\"Lockheed Martin vice-president Robert Toth\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"XsNYN img_cptn\"><span title=\"Lockheed Martin vice-president Robert Toth\">Lockheed Martin vice-president Robert Toth<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>New Delhi: US defence and aerospace major Lockheed Martin is \u201cready for complete transfer of technologies of some parts of Super Hercules C-130J transport aircraft\u201d if it wins India\u2019s contract for 60 medium transport aircraft (MTA), the company\u2019s vice-president (strategy &amp; business development, air mobility and maritime missions) Robert Toth told TOI on Monday.<!-- --> He also said that winning the contract \u201cwill also give India access to several advanced technologies acquired by the group in areas like defence and aerospace\u201d.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"3\"\/>In Aug, the defence ministry issued a tender for 60 MTA for the <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/indian-air-force\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Indian Air Force<\/a> (IAF) valued at around Rs 1 lakh crore ($10-12 billion). The request for proposal was issued to five Indian entities \u2014 Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (partnered with Lockheed Martin, offering C-130J), Mahindra Defence (in a tie-up with Brazil\u2019s Embraer, offering C-390 Millennium), Reliance Defence, Adani Defence and PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/>Speaking to TOI during a joint interview with regional chief executive (Asia and India) William L Blair, Toth said, \u201cI think Super Hercules is the best choice for India as it has been designed for operating in hot and high altitude environments. IAF has already acquired 12 of our aircraft and has been operating them in difficult missions like transporting men and material to the world\u2019s highest battlefield (Ladakh) to the recent Nepal flash floods for providing relief operations to using the aircraft for evacuating Indian nationals from (conflict-hit) Sudan (in 2023).\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/>\u201cIAF has been doing these certified hard missions with C-130J and its fleet has already crossed the milestone of 53,000 flight hours,\u201d he said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/>The fleet of 12 for IAF has unique configuration as per India\u2019s requirements and has been designed keeping in mind India\u2019s topography, Toth said. \u201cWe are willing to provide IAF with 60 advanced Super Hercules (12 in flyaway conditions and 48 made in India) and also upgrade its existing fleet of 12 to the level of the advanced 60 aircraft, thereby taking IAF\u2019s effective fleet of advanced aircraft to 72. <!-- -->Thus, the entire fleet will have the same lifespan,\u201d the Lockheed VP said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>On setting up an assembly line in India, Toth said, \u201cWe continue to evaluate options to set up a second assembly line in India outside the US. But what is important is that we have been investing in India with our Indian partner Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) for the last 15 years and developing the defence aerospace ecosystem of Indian private industry.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>Blair told TOI, \u201cWe are in the process of setting up an MRO facility in Bengaluru to support the C-130J fleet. And that 60 aircraft is a critical mass to set up a production line. Since production began in 2010, Tata Sikorsky Aerospace Limited (TSAL) has delivered 157 aerostructure component sets to the Sikorsky S-92 assembly plant in the US.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>Toth said, \u201cWith four turboprop engines, C-130J has a better safety record than others and is well suited for high-altitude and short takeoff operations. <!-- -->It has a payload capacity of 22,000kg. More than 560 Super Hercules have been delivered to 28 customers worldwide and the C-130J fleet globally has surpassed 3 million flight hours, much more than any other contender.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/>\u201cLockheed has the largest and robust supply chains across the world. In the last 15 years of our partnership with TASL, we have developed a big supply ecosystem within India. Over 500 suppliers, including over 140 MSMEs, feed into our two joint ventures \u2014 Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Limited (TLMAL) and Tata Sikorsky Aerospace Limited (TSAL). <!-- -->If we get the MTA contract, this supply chain will only expand in India,\u201d Toth said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"33\"\/>\u201cTLMAL has built all empennages (rear of an aircraft that provides stability and control during flight) for C-130J since Dec 2013 and delivered 265 empennages till now,\u201d the Lockheed VP said, adding, \u201cOver $700 million worth of exports have been generated providing over $200 million of revenue for Indian industry.\u201d<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/defence\/news\/ready-for-tech-transfer-of-some-parts-of-super-hercules-to-india-says-lockheed-vp-calls-aircraft-best-option-for-iaf-as-mta-tender-is-out\/articleshow\/134397508.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lockheed Martin vice-president Robert Toth New Delhi: US defence and aerospace major Lockheed Martin is \u201cready for complete transfer of technologies of some parts of Super Hercules C-130J transport aircraft\u201d if it wins India\u2019s contract for 60 medium transport aircraft (MTA), the company\u2019s vice-president (strategy &amp; business development, air mobility and maritime missions) Robert Toth [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Lockheed Martin vice-president Robert Toth New Delhi: US defence and aerospace major Lockheed Martin is \u201cready for complete transfer of technologies of some parts of Super Hercules C-130J transport aircraft\u201d if it wins India\u2019s contract for 60 medium transport aircraft (MTA), the company\u2019s vice-president (strategy &amp; business development, air mobility and maritime missions) Robert Toth [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":3,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":4,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lockheed-martin-vice-president-robert-toth.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}