HAL to supply 70 trainer aircraft to IAF for over Rs 6,800 crore

In a major push towards indigenisation, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved purchasing 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at a cost of Rs 6,800 crore to train rookie pilots joining the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The state-owned aviation major will supply the home-grown trainer aircraft over the next six years, supplementing the IAF's basic trainer fleet, which currently comprises 75 Pilatus PC-7 Mk-II aircraft.

"The Union Cabinet has approved procurement of 70 HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft from HAL for the IAF at a cost of Rs 6,828.36 crore," a Defence Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

Designed to have good low-speed handling qualities and better training effectiveness, the fully aerobatic tandem-seat turbo trainer has air-conditioned cockpit, modern avionics, hot refuelling, running changeover and zero-zero ejection seats.

The induction of the aircraft is expected to meet the shortage of IAF's basic trainer aircraft for new pilots. The procurement will include associated equipment and training aids including simulators.

About a decade ago, the same aircraft was virtually written off due to its disappointing development history, compelling the IAF to consider placing a follow-on order for another 36-38 Pilatus aircraft. Even though the follow-on order didn't materialise so far, the Defence Ministry rooted for the home-grown trainer.

Being an indigenous solution, the HTT-40 is configurable for upgrades to incorporate the futuristic requirements of the armed forces. The current version has 56% indigenous content which will progressively be raised to over 60% through indigenisation of major components and subsystems.

The Cabinet approval, however, was 36 aircraft less than what was cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council chaired by Rajnath Singh in August, 2020, when a proposal to buy 106 HTT-40 at a cost of Rs 8,722 crore was approved. Two years later in October 2022, this was modified to 70 aircraft at a cost of Rs 6,800 crore without any explanation.

While the aircraft had cleared critical regulatory tests, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari and his predecessor Air Chief Marshal R S Bhadauria (rtd) had flown the aircraft.

The procurement of two types of trainer aircraft takes place following a 2008 IAF proposal when the Service initiated a case of procuring 181 basic trainer aircraft.

The Union Cabinet also approved the purchase of three cadet training ships for the Indian Navy from Larsen & Toubro at a cost of more than Rs 3,000 crore. These ships will cater to the training of officer cadets, including women, at sea after their basic training to meet the future requirements of the Indian Navy.

To be constructed at the L&T shipyard in Kattupalli, Chennai, the delivery of these ships is scheduled to commence from 2026.