IAF shortlists Swiss aircraft for training rookie pilots

[elite]

IAF shortlists Swiss aircraft for training rookie pilots

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has short-listed the Swiss-made Pilatus PC-7 aircraft to buy for training its rookie pilots, Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal P.V. Naik said Wednesday.‘Of the three short-listed firms from the US, Korea and Switzeraland, the bid made by Philatus has emerged as the lowest one. We have started price negotiations with the Swiss vendor for supplying 75 aircraft to train new pilots,’ Naik told reporters on the margins of an air force commanders’ conference.

The other contenders were the American Hawker Beechcraft T-6C Texas-II and the Korean Aerospace’s KT-1.

As the turboprop low-wing tandem-seat aircraft, Pilatus is capable of all basic training functions, including aerobatics, instrument, tactical and night flying.

The Swiss vendor has sold about 500 aircraft during the past three decades to about 20 air forces worldwide.

Admitting that the air force needed to improve its training facilities with more simulators and best-equipped aircraft, Naik said if the Philatus deal was signed, the IAF would send some of its young pilots initially to Switzerland for training and start the same exercise at its air bases in the country when the aircraft are delivered over the next two years.

‘As we need a better trainer aircraft, we hope to induct the PC-7 into our fleet in the next two years for training the new pilots,’ Naik pointed out.

With the grounding of the indigenous HPT-32 Deepak trainers of the state-run defence behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in 2009, the air force has been facing shortage of basic trainer aircraft for flying by its rookie pilots.

 

[Dash]

At least a trainer if not the Gripen from the Swiss....well good Job IAF.

 

[indushek]

Seems that everybody (all the MMRCA contenders) is getting something out of the pie.

 

[acetophenol]

pilatus pc-9

our deepak:

i think the trainee and instructor sits in tandem config.
won't it affect the training compared to our deepaks or kirans in which the trainee sits side by side with the instructor?

 

[sudhir007]

IAF identifies lowest bidder for trainer aircraft tender - The Economic Times

The Swiss-made Pilatus PC-7 has emerged as the lowest bidder for the Indian Air Force's basic trainer aircraft tender , Air Chief Marshal PV Naik announced on Wednesday.

"We had shortlisted three companies - the Americans, Swiss and the Koreans. Now we have shortlisted down to the lowest bidder, which is the Swiss vendor, Pilatus. Commercial negotiations are going on. Hopefully, within the next one and a half to two years, we will be able to start the supply of the aircraft," Air Marshal Naik said at a press briefing held at the IAF's Headquarters Training Command.

Other contenders in the running for the globally-issued tender included the American Hawker-Beechcraft T-6C Texas-II, Korean Aerospace's KT-1 and the Pilatus PC-21.

Under the current tender, 75 trainers are to be procured from the vendor. Separately, a further 106 basic trainer aircrafts, named the Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40, will be designed and manufactured by state-owned defence undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

The IAF's basic trainer aircraft fleet is in perilous state, a situation exacerbated after the grounding of its entire fleet of HPT-32 Deepak trainers in 2009. Over the past few years almost 20 IAF pilots have lost their lives in Deepak crashes that led the Comptroller and Auditor General of India to state that the aircraft was technologically outdated and beset by flight safety hazards.

The outgoing Air Chief also confirmed that the long-delayed Mirage-2000 upgrade is expected to be cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security - the apex body authorised to clear major defence deals - by the end of June or early July.

"The Mirage-2000 upgrade will be going to the CCS after the approval of the Raksha Mantri, which I expect in a week or two. The CCS should then take about a week or two to clear it, after which, the Cost Negotiation Committee will start," Naik said.

The three-year-old deal, expected to be about $2.4 billion, has remained unresolved as New Delhi and France's Dassault Aviation and Thales failed to arrive at a mutually agreeable price to get the job done.

The upgrade is expected to provide the aircraft, which were originally inducted in 1985, with an additional 20-25 years of service. The IAF currently has 51 two-decade-old Mirage aircraft, used for air defence and ground attacks, in three squadrons based in Gwalior.

The IAF is also actively looking to substantially add to its heavy-lift aircraft fleet, and has indicated its willingness to buy six more Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules transporters, after it purchased the original six for close to $1-billion.

"Yes, we would like to have more C-130J and C-17 aircrafts. We will start with the statement of case soon," Naik said.

The aircrafts are critical for the IAF as it moves to bolster its strategic lift capabilities, even as it seeks to shift an increasing number of troops and military equipment along the Line of Actual Control, which the country shares with China. The aircrafts also act as crucial force multipliers by extending the Air Force's strategic reach significantly.

Separately, it has also been looking to replace its Soviet-era IL-76 transport aircraft fleet, which have been dogged by a lack of serviceability and spares, and are also coming to the end of their operational lifespan.

 

[SpArK]

At least a trainer if not the Gripen from the Swiss....well good Job IAF.

Seems that everybody (all the MMRCA contenders) is getting something out of the pie.

When did Swiss bought the swedish Gripen?

 

[indushek]

When did Swiss bought the swedish Gripen?

Haha u got us there man, true mistake between Swiss and Swedish may be?

 

[acetophenol]

When did Swiss bought the swedish Gripen?

and around the corner..........................,
sparkyyyyy scores another goaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dash]

When did Swiss bought the swedish Gripen?

my bad... how did I say that?? ....But the SWISS my by the SWEDISH Gripen..you never know..

 

[elite]

Any guess what are the armaments it can carry?? Can we use rocket pods and bombs in the aircraft???

 

[Abingdonboy]

pilatus pc-9

our deepak:

i think the trainee and instructor sits in tandem config.
won't it affect the training compared to our deepaks or kirans in which the trainee sits side by side with the instructor?

I suppose the Tandem config gets pilots used to the same config they will fly in fighters and now IAF's training regime now includes extensive simulation before pilots get anywhere near a plane as opposed to when Kiran and Deepak were introduced trainees will be proficent enough before entering trainer to not need instructor next to them.

+ this news is odd though as a few weeks back it was reported the US Beechcraft was in the lead.

 

[acetophenol]

I suppose the Tandem config gets pilots used to the same config they will fly in fighters and now IAF's training regime now includes extensive simulation before pilots get anywhere near a plane as opposed to when Kiran and Deepak were introduced trainees will be proficent enough before entering trainer to not need instructor next to them.

+ this news is odd though as a few weeks back it was reported the US Beechcraft was in the lead.

they can get used to the fighter jet config. in intermediate jet trainers.here we are talking about beginners in basic trainers.

 

[Soumya_india]

India has selected the Swiss Pilatus PC-7 aircraft as its beginning trainer for Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots.

The Swiss aircraft, along with Grob’s G-120 TP, Embraer’s EMB-312 Super Tucano, Finmeccanica’s M-311, Hawker Beechcraft’s T-6C Texan-II and Korean Aerospace’s KT-1 participated in the flight trials last year.

“Of the three short-listed firms from the U.S., Korea and Switzerland, the bid made by Pilatus has emerged the lowest,” says India’s chief of air staff, Air Marshal P.V. Naik.

The total cost for the basic trainer is likely to be around $1 billion. The aircraft are expected to be delivered over the next two years.

“We have started price negotiations with the Swiss vendor for supplying 75 aircraft to train new pilots,” Naik says.

After the Pilatus deal is signed, the IAF is likely to send some of its young pilots to Switzerland for training. “As we need a better trainer aircraft, we hope to induct the PC-7 into our fleet in the next two years for training the new pilots,” Naik says.

The PC-7 turbo trainer is a low-wing tandem-seat training aircraft, capable of all basic training functions including aerobatics, instrument, tactical and night flying.

“Offering a reliable and economic training platform, the docile behavior of the PC-7 Mk. II in the hands of a beginner delivers a confidence-building environment for inexperienced cadets,” the company says. “With its highly cost-efficient Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25C engine, it provides the lowest engine operating costs of all turboprop trainer aircraft.”

The Swiss vendor has sold about 500 aircraft during the past three decades to 21 air forces worldwide.

Following the grounding of the indigenous HPT-32 Deepak trainers by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. in 2009, the IAF has been scouting for a basic trainer.

India Selects Pilatus Basic Trainer | AVIATION WEEK

 

[razgriz19]

this is pc-7 mk 2.

 

[majesticpankaj]

have we got some lottery ?? we are buying some serious stuffs.. good job IAF