Efforts by the Indian Air Force (IAF) to replace its ageing fleet of 50 HS 748 Avro twin-turboprop aircraft began nearly eight years ago when on July 24, 2012, a Request For Information (RFI) for 56 transport aircraft was issued. Thereafter, in May 2013, a global Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued to which the only response received was from Airbus Defence and Space with the offer of the C-295, a twin-turboprop tactical military transport aircraft. The Indian company to be a partner of the OEM in this project is Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL). The case has now been sent to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for final approval which hopefully will be received shortly.