Cabinet Approves Purchase Of HAL Basic Trainer Aircraft

The Cabinet has approved the purchase of basic trainer aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), bringing the country's reliance on such aircraft to an end and constructing three cadet training ships by L&T.

The contract for 70 H70 HTT 40 primary trainer aircraft contract .36 crore. According to defence ministry officials, the aircraft will be delivered over a six-year period.

“The aircraft will address the IAF's shortage of basic trainer aircraft for training newly inducted pilots. The purchase will include associated equipment and training aids such as simulators,” said one of them.

The air force requires 106 such aircraft to train pilots who will then fly on more advanced platforms.

At present, officials said that HTT 40 has 56 per cent indigenous content, which will progressively increase to over 60 per cent.

“The procurement has the potential to directly employ approximately 1,500 people and indirectly employ up to 3,000 people spread across more than 100 MSMEs,” an official stated.

The cabinet has also approved a contract with L&T for the acquisition of three cadet training ships in a deal valued at Rs 3,108.09 crore. The ships will be delivered beginning in 2026. The ships will be built at the L&T shipyard in Kattupalli, Chennai.

HAL has invested Rs 550 crore in the HTT 40 development project, which included extensive spin and stall trials deemed necessary for pilot safety.

The IAF had committed to purchasing 70 aircraft, with an additional 36 required after the defence ministry banned the Swiss company Pilatus, which supplied the current PC 7 Mk II trainers. In 2012, the IAF ordered 75 Pilatus PC 7 Mk II aircraft for Rs 2,900 crore, but while the planes were delivered, Pilatus was barred due to a CBI investigation into alleged corruption in the deal.