Published February 28, 2014 | By admin
SOURCE: Aviationweek
The IAF has issued a request for information for a light weight single-engined, twin-seat trainer with a secondary light attack capability, an official at the ministry of defense says.
“We have asked the vendors to provide cost details for the direct purchase of IJTs for batch sizes of 10, 20, 30 and 50 aircraft,” he says.
The RFI comes weeks after India’s Defense Minister A K Antony said that the much-delayed Sitara IJT is likely to be operational this year. “All efforts are being made by the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) for achieving the final operational clearance by December 2014,” Antony had said.
The IAF has been reluctant to exercise the option of buying an IJT since the state-run HAL has been developing a trainer for the force for the last over 15 years.
“We are forced to take this decision as deadlines for getting the operational clearance for Sitara have been breached on a number of occasions,” the IAF official says.
The RFI for new a IJT states that the aircraft should be capable of operating from airfields up to an elevation of at least 2000m above mean sea level (AMSL) and is desirable to have it capable for operation up to 3000m. Submissions are due on April 4.
The official says the aircraft should be capable of carrying at least 1000kg of external load and be equipped with a minimum of five hard points, each hard point on the wing should be stressed to carry at least 300kg stores.
“The aircraft should be capable of employing a light weight gun-pod with adequate ammunition for at least five seconds of firing time, reusable rocket pods and be able to carry at least 4x250kg retarded or ballistic bombs, he says.
IAF has also made it clear that vendors would be put through a trial evaluation in India on a “no cost no commitment” basis and a staff evaluation would be carried out to analyze the results of the field evaluation before shortlisting the equipment for introduction into service.
The deal will include cost for a comprehensive annual maintenance support, including all spares program for supporting operations of 10,20 and 30 aircraft at a utilization rate of 30 hours per aircraft per month.
The lack of trainer aircraft to train its new recruits has been affecting the force, with new pilots often being unable to handle highly-demanding fighters like MiG-21s. Almost 40% of the 1,050 crashes recorded by IAF since 1970, for instance, have been attributed to “human error”.
The HJT-36 was to have entered service with the IAF in June 2012 as a Stage-II trainer, replacing the aging HAL Kiran Mk-1 and Mk-II in service. However, in 2011, flight-testing suffered a major setback when a Sitara crashed in stall testing.
Kiran Mk-I was due to be phased out this year but its lifespan has been extended by four years. Maintenance of Kiran Mk II has become a major issue because no support for its Opheus engine was available.
“IJT is a delayed project, I admit... We have faced major delays in getting the new Russian engines for IJT. These issues have been sorted out...Now, the aircraft’s development is in “advanced stages of certification with more than 800 test flights completed so far,” HAL Chairman R.K. Tyagi told Aviation Week recently.
Indian fighter pilots are trained in three stages, first on a basic trainer aircraft, then on a IJT and finally on an advanced jet trainer.
While IAF does its basic training in the 26 Pilatus PC-7 MK IIs, out of a total order for 75 aircraft; the advanced jet trainer role is filled by BAE Systems Hawk 132s, which HAL is making under licenced production in India.
HAL is also trying to develop its own HTT-40 turboprop for the basic trainer role.
As per estimates, with 240 new trainee pilots joining the service every year, IAF requires 181 basic trainers, 85 intermediate jet trainers and 106 advanced jet trainers. India has already inducted a bulk of the 123 Hawks ordered for its air force and naval pilots in an overall project worth around 160 billion rupees ($2.8 billion).
The IAF has signed two contracts with HAL for delivery of 12 limited series production IJT aircraft and 73 series production IJT aircraft. HAL has confirmed the delivery of aircraft in a phased manner after the grant of IOC. HAL was sanctioned 1.80 billion rupees in July 1999 to develop the aircraft and build two flying prototypes.
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