- The Indian Air Force (IAF) has cleared all issues related to the upgrade of An-32 transport aircraft. At Aero India 2019, Ukraine has offered its new An-132 aircraft to the IAF as a replacement for the An-32 fleet.
- The Indian Air Force had, in 2005, conceived the upgrade of An-32s to overcome maintenance challenges due to ageing and obsolescence.The $400 million upgrade contract was concluded in 2009.Out of 105 An-32’s, thirty five upgraded An-32s have already been delivered by Ukraine. But the upgrade program was stalled due to Ukraine conflict with Russia.
- The Saudi−Ukrainian multi−purpose aircraft An-132 is intended in particular for military transportation of armed personnel, and warfare equipment.
- The An-132 -a modernized variant of the An-32 cargo plane is going to have (a) better capabilities when it comes to the carried payload (b) the airframe is designed in a way to be able to carry out unprepared runway operations (c)modern avionics equipment (d) new oxygen systems and (e) improved crew seats. The rest of the aircraft are being upgraded in India.
