The Union Cabinet has approved procurement of 70 HTT-40 (Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40) Basic Trainer Aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force at a cost of Rs 6,828.36 crore. The aircraft will be supplied over a period of six years. The procurement will include associated equipment and training aids including simulators. Being an indigenous solution, the Aircraft is configurable for upgrades to incorporate the futuristic requirements of the Indian Armed Forces. The Union Council of Ministers is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which functions as the senior decision making body of the executive branch.
The HAL HTT-40 is an Indian training aircraft designed and built by HAL. It will replace the Indian Air Force’s retired HPT-32 Deepak as a basic trainer. The HTT-40 is a turbo prop aircraft and is designed to have good low speed handling qualities and provide better training effectiveness. This fully aerobatic tandem seat turbo trainer has air-conditioned cockpit, modern avionics, hot re-fueling, running change over and zero-zero ejection seats. The aircraft will meet the shortage of basic trainer aircraft of IAF for training of newly inducted pilots.
The HTT-40 contains approx. 56% indigenous content which will progressively increase to over 60% through indigenisation of major components and subsystems. The HAL would engage Indian private industry, including MSMEs, in its supply chain. The procurement has the potential to provide direct employment to approx. 1,500 personnel and indirect employment for up to 3,000 people spread over more than 100 MSMEs. The acquisition of the HTT-40 provides fillip to the Indian Aerospace Defence ecosystem and boosts efforts towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
At Aero India 2021, HAL received request for proposal from the IAF for 70 HTT40s with an option for 38 more. Production will take place at the Bangalore and Nashik manufacturing plants. By August 2021, the HTT-40 had completed its spin certification flight testing. The platform received its provisional certificate of airworthiness from the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) on 6 June 2022. At DefExpo 2022, IAF and HAL concluded ?6,800 crore contract for 70 HTT-40. The remaining 36 will be procured after operationalization of HTT-40 fleet.
