Indian Air Force orders HTT-40
On 20 October 2022, the Bharatiya Vayu Sena (IAF, Indian Air Force) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) signed a contract for the procurement of 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft.
It took both parties more than twenty months to come to this deal. In February 2021, HAL received the official Request for Proposal (RFP) during the second day of the Aero India trade show and exhibition.
The first prototype of the basic trainer was unveiled on 2 February 2016 and took to the skies on 31 May 2016. In November 2018, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the purchase of seventy HTT-40s for the Indian Air Force. The new trainer will join the current fleet of 75 Pilatus PC-7 Mk.IIs based at Dundigal AFS with the Training Command.
Earlier, the HTT-40 had been rejected by the air force which opted for the Pilatus PC-7. In the second half of 2018, HAL’s Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) conducted extensive wind tunnel tests and analysed mathematical models to arrive at the requirements of the spin test. On 11 August 2020, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the procurement of defence equipment for an approximate cost of USD 2 billion, including 106 Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft.
Photo by Uday Krishna (via Jetphotos.com)