India to buy 38 Pilatus trainer aircraft, build warships

The Defence Acquisition Council on Saturday approved buying of 38 additional Pilatus basic trainer aircraft for the Indian Air Force, and building 12 anti-mine warships for the Indian Navy in Goa with imported equipment.

Chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the DAC cleared procurement of Pilatus trainers from Switzerland using the ‘option clause’ in the 2012 agreement to buy 75 of those aircraft for Rs 2,900 crore.

The cost of the 38 aircraft is expected to be in the same range. India requires 181 trainer aircraft, and HTT-40 of the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) will make up the rest of the fleet, Defence Ministry sources said.

The Pilatus trainer is capable of all basic training functions including aerobatics, instrument, tactical and night flying. It has been selected by more than 20 air forces as their trainer. In 2011, the IAF selected the Pilatus as its basic trainer, and an initial order was then made.

In addition, the DAC gave its nod to buy one C-130J Super Hercules from the US at a cost of Rs 533 crore to replace an aircraft in the Super Hercules fleet, which crashed two years ago.

The 12 anti-mine vessels will be constructed at the Goa Shipyard Ltd in a completely new process at a cost of Rs 32,640 crore.

The technology will come from a foreign vendor as these warships are to be constructed under the ‘buy and make’ category of the defence procurement procedure.