Can these carry ASW equipment or anti ship missiles? If yes they will be force multipliers.
The Indian navy could use the US-2i for a number of roles, such as
- crew/cargo rotation at sea,
- rapid troop insertion to uninhabited islands/islands with no airstrip
- Casualty Evacuation at sea
- Rescue of survivors from downed plane/capsized ships
- supply of critical spares to units at sea,
- rapid response missions for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief,
- Visual / Radar Surveillance at long range, Long range Search and Rescue Mission and
- Range :-4,700 kilometers,
- Probable station:- A&N Command.
- Crew:- 8.pilot; copilot; flight engineer; navigator; radio operator; radar operator; and two observers.
- SAR crew:- Up to five medics or rescue divers could be carried as well. The aircraft could accommodate 12 stretchers and three sitting passengers, or 36 sitting passengers.
- Troop transport mode:- 100 Combat ready troops.
- For SAR French Thales Ocean Master search radar
- Short take off and landing in 3m waves in sea state 5.
- Rolls-Royce AE-2100J engines, providing 3,425 kW (4,590 SHP)
- Ceiling of 6,100 meters (20,000 feet)
- Glass cockpit
- Navigation:-GPS guidance
Comparable aircrafts are Canada’s Bombardier and Russia’s Beriev. But both cant land/take off in choppy 3m waves of sea state 5.
ShinMaywa is not new to India as it began operations almost 20 years ago in India. It has supplied more than 80 aerobridges to Indian airports and established state-of-the-art pumps for waste water treatment across the country.
But not sure if it can retrofitted to ASW role, though we have it adequately covered that role by 12 P8-I stationed at INS rajali