CCS Approves Procurement Of 70 Made-In-India HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft For Indian Air Force

The Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has cleared the procurement of 70 Made-in-India HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft for the Indian Air Force.

The aircraft, which will be used to train rookie pilots, will be procured at a cost of Rs 6,800 crore.

Reports suggest that the training aircraft will be supplied to the Indian Air Force over a period of six years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the aircraft at the DefExpo in Gandhinagar in November 2022.

The trainer, designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), will be built at facilities in Bangalore and Nashik.

Rookie pilots of the IAF will learn to fly on these aircraft in the first stage of their training. In the second and third stages, the pilots are trained on the Kiran Mark II jet and the Hawk advanced jet, respectively.

The HTT-40 deal is of great significance because the development of the aircraft, which began in 2013, progressed amid a see-saw battle between HAL and the IAF over the future of the programme.

Also Read: IAF Is Finally Buying Made-In-India HTT-40 Trainer It Refused To Buy Into For Years