Trials over, IAF may shortlist basic trainers

[bhagat]

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has submitted its flight evaluation report for the basic trainer aircraft it seeks to acquire, a senior IAF official has confirmed on condition of anonymity.


“The trials were completed by December, and the report has been submitted to the defence ministry,” he said.


Five planes—the Hawker Beechcraft T-6C Texan II, the Grob G-120, the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KT-1, the Pilatus PC-7 and EADS’ PZL-130 Orlik—are in the running for the deal.


Three people with direct knowledge of the matter independently said that, out of the five competitors, three—the T-6C Texan II, the KT-1 and the PC-7—are likely to clear flight trials.

The IAF is seeking to acquire 75 basic trainers, in a deal valued at nearly $1 billion (Rs.4,550 crore).


They will replace the HAL HPT-32 Deepak trainer aircraft that were grounded in July-August 2009 after several crashes and engine failures. The Deepak trainers are manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).


The IAF has been without a basic trainer since then and trainee pilots are training directly on the Stage-2 advanced jet trainer (AJT) Hawk-132. In 2004, India signed a contract with BAE Systems of the UK to acquire 66 AJTs, 24 of which were delivered in 2008. In July 2010, India signed a deal to acquire an additional 40 AJTs for the IAF and 17 for the navy.


The IAF officer cited earlier said that, as per the procedure, the lowest bidder among the shortlisted competitors would be determined.


Cost negotiations would begin after this.


According to one of the people with direct knowledge of the matter, the final contract is likely to be signed by June, as the “IAF is in urgent need for basic trainers”.


Doug J. Choi, regional manager, International Business Development, Asia/South America, KAI, said thus far the company had had no official communication with the IAF.


Officials from Hawker Beechcraft and Pilatus could not be reached for comment, while the IAF spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.

Trials over, IAF may shortlist basic trainers - Home - livemint.com

 

[CONNAN]

there is another news that Embraer May Develop Trainer Aircraft With India

Embraer May Develop Trainer Aircraft With India

i am a bit confused according to the above report we will be developing a basic trainer. so are we going to have 2 different basic trainers

 

[IndianArmy]

there is another news that Embraer May Develop Trainer Aircraft With India

Embraer May Develop Trainer Aircraft With India

i am a bit confused according to the above report we will be developing a basic trainer. so are we going to have 2 different basic trainers

well 3 I guess.... Add HTT-40 to it...

 

[sancho]

Actually it's all about the same kind of trainers, the fact that Deepak trainers can't be used anymore forced IAF for a fast procurment of trainers and that is the competition the article is talking about. The HTT - 40 is HALs medium / long term solution for the same class and the early reports suggested, that MoD is combining the search of the foreign trainer, with a co-development of HTT - 40. Would make sense, because you get foreign help, can combine parts to reduce costs and get possibly also a good partner for foreign sales as well.
However, that was never confirmed and Embraer was not shortlisted in the competition (most likely because their Tucano trainers are a class above what we searched for), so their co-development offer now is seperated from this competition. Imo it would be a great chance not only to get into deeper relations with Brazil and their industry, but also for more relations between HAL and Embraer. They already have good experience in the civil aircraft field, also in developing military trainers and they are searching for independent countries for JV and co-developments, especially with their bad experience with sanctions on US parts in their aircrafts.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Actually it's all about the same kind of trainers, the fact that Deepak trainers can't be used anymore forced IAF for a fast procurment of trainers and that is the competition the article is talking about. The HTT - 40 is HALs medium / long term solution for the same class and the early reports suggested, that MoD is combining the search of the foreign trainer, with a co-development of HTT - 40. Would make sense, because you get foreign help, can combine parts to reduce costs and get possibly also a good partner for foreign sales as well.
However, that was never confirmed and Embraer was not shortlisted in the competition (most likely because their Tucano trainers are a class above what we searched for), so their co-development offer now is seperated from this competition. Imo it would be a great chance not only to get into deeper relations with Brazil and their industry, but also for more relations between HAL and Embraer. They already have good experience in the civil aircraft field, also in developing military trainers and they are searching for independent countries for JV and co-developments, especially with their bad experience with sanctions on US parts in their aircrafts.

Actually a JV with Embraer would be the way to go. The Tucano is an extremely good aircraft plus it has cockpit commonality with the Hawk AJT. But on the other hand it is 'basic trainer+' .

 

[jha]

I always wanted Grob to win..

 

[sancho]

Artist concept of training aircraft Hawker Texan II T-6C in the colors of the Indian Air Force. (Foto: Hawker Beechcraft) (Photo: Hawker Beechcraft)

Found this on a Brazilian blog and it looked kind of cool.