Indigenous HTT-40 trainer aircraft |
India`s indigenous basic trainer aircraft, Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40), on June 17, 2016, made its inaugural flight in Bengaluru in the presence of defence minister Manohar Parrikar.HTT-40 will be used for the first-stage training for all flying cadets of the three services.Indian Air Force is expected to procure 70 HTT-40 aircraft.Detailed design phase of HTT-40 was launched in August 2013 with HAL`s internal funding and was completed in May 2015. From then, it has taken 12 months to fly the first prototype.While the HTT-40 programme was almost junked during the UPA rule, defence minister Manohar Parrikar pushed both IAF and HAL to ensure development of the trainer. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar, who witnessed the inaugural flight of home-grown HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft`s prototype developed by HAL, said the defence PSU needs to focus on its after-sales servicing too.
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