Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Mar 22, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Mar 22, 2003 |
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Airlines Industry & Economy - Science & Technology HAL's jet trainer prototype takes off Our Bureau
The Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT), HJT-36 developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd was test flown successfully in Bangalore on Friday in the presence of the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes. HJT-36 is replacement to the ageing Kiran aircraft (HJT-16), which is used by Indian Air Force for Stage II training of pilots.
BANGALORE, March 21 HAL's Rs 180-crore intermediate jet trainer (IJT) project reached a milestone on Friday, with the first prototype of the trainer taking to the skies. HAL will make 211 IJTs for the Indian Air Force and will try to deliver the first batch of 12 by 2005, the HAL Chairman, Mr N.R. Mohanty, later said. The trainer will replace the aging Kiran Mk1 and Mk2 trainers that have been in service since the 1960s and will give young trainer pilots a smoother transition to advanced and combat aircraft. The intermediate trainer, named HJT-36, is powered by the Turbomeca Larzac 04H20 engine and has been designed and developed by the HAL design team in a record span of 20 months. The project was sanctioned in July 1999 and got into production mode in June 2001. The IJT had its maiden flight on March 7 this year. HAL plans to have three more prototypes and the second one will be flown by the end of this year. The certification is due in July and the company is scheduled to deliver all the 211 aircraft starting from 2005 or 2006 at a peak production rate of 20 a year. The HJT-36 is HAL's third major success in recent years, coming after the development of the LCA (light combat aircraft) and the ALH (advanced light helicopter). The Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, and the Minister of State for Defence Production, Mr O. Rajgopal, witnessed the inaugural flight. Mr Mohanty said the target aircraft for 2003-04 is upgrading the Jaguar fighters. HAL was also working on delivering the first batch of Sukhoi Mk1 fighters next year.
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