No need to import trainer aircraft, HTT 40 to be ready by December: HAL

NEW DELHI: India does not need to import any more basic trainer aircraft for the armed forces as the indigenous HTT 40 will be ready by the end of this year, state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which has invested Rs 550 crore in the development project, has said.

With the defence ministry banning Swiss company Pilatus, which supplied the current set of PC 7 Mk II trainers to the Air Force, HAL said the import requirement of 36 aircraft can also be added to the indigenous order and that the first unit can be delivered within a year.

“We have completed most of the tests and the aircraft has been performing very well,” HAL chairmanR Madhavan told ET.