IAF Contracts HAL to buy 70 HTT-40 Trainer Aircraft

The Indian Air Force (IAF) and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Thursday concluded a $822 million (INR 6,800 crore) contract for 70 HTT-40 indigenous Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA).

In all, 451 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreements and product launches took place during the Bandhan ceremony at the 12th DefExpo. Of the 451, there were 345 MoUs, 42 major announcements, 46 product launches and 18 ToTs. It envisages investment worth around $18 billion (INR 1.5 lakh crore), the Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said in a statement.

In August 2020, the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC), the highest decision-making body of the MoD, approved the procurement of 106 HTT-40 for the IAF of which post certification 70 BTA will be initially procured from the HAL and balance 36 after operationalization of HTT-40 fleet in the IAF.

In February 2021, at Aero India, HAL received the Request For Proposal (RFP) from the IAF for HTT-40 for 70 aircraft with additional clause for 38 more. Production will take place at HAL’s two manufacturing units at Bengaluru and Nasik.