 "'Made in India' HTT-40 trainer aircraft completes inaugural flight")
Piloted by Group Captain C Subramaniam and Group Captain Venugopal on the inaugural flight, the two-seater flying machine was designed and developed by HAL to fit the role of a stage-one trainer aircraft for the Indian armed forces. It has taken little under two years for the HTT-40 to be developed from the ground up, with HAL aiming to get operational clearance by 2018.
The HTT-40, which was designed by a team with an average age of 30 years (HAL's youngest ever) uses close to 80 per cent indigenous content, while 50 per cent of all components are manufactured by private players. HAL says it has a formal Defence Security Corps agreement to supply over 70 HTT-40s to the Indian Air Force.
"I would like to congratulate the team. They promised me that in one year they will fly the aircraft in June when the DSC said it was going in for a minimum of 70 aircraft. Though we are doing the inauguration on June 17, the aircraft actually took to the skies on May 31, so they kept their promise," said Parrikar.
Parrikar added that the HTT-40 was far better than the trainer aircraft it will replace given that it exceeds the current safety standards of glide and pilot ejections. The HTT-40 is also approximately 25 per cent cheaper than the current crop of trainers, with the defence ministry cutting orders from foreign providers to accommodate the 70 new planes.
Speaking about his visit to Vietnam earlier this month, Parrikar said that Vietnam had expressed interest to buy India's Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles and that a group was formed to discuss the country's requirements and take a decision. Apart from Vietnam, a lot of eastern Asian countries have shown Interest to buy arms and ammunition from India.
"Many of the countries on the eastern side of India have showing varying degrees of interest in buying from India. Vietnam has issued a deed to L&T, after selecting them for offshore patrol vessels, worth about $100 million. So our exports have also improved, more than doubled, but we want to take it to $2 billion," added Parrikar.
