“The Indian Finance Ministry has cleared the deal for 75 Pilatus PC-7 Mk II basic trainer aircraft. The deal will be presented to the Cabinet next week for final clearance. Contract signature will follow soon after,” said Indian Air Chief, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne today. Have tried to get a word out of Pilatus, though the company said it could not provide any information until the contract was signed. The deal is worth $565-million (Rs 2,900-crore).
Photo / Pilatus Aircraft
ayyo!!amma!!appa and amen!!! hope no more dreaded hurdles!!! Too terrifying decisively indecisiveness!!!Had enough!!!
Without hesitation the deal should be done asap.
think that the complications regarding the selection process is solved..right on track
Babu logix is surprising…. we buy the latest technology when it comes to fighter aircrafts but train our to be pilots in ancient trainer planes. The Pilatus PC-7 flew first in 1978, the Pilatus PC-9 ( a powerful evolution of the PC-7) in 1984 and the PC-7 MkII in 1997. God dammit the latest version PC-21 ( a complete new design) flew in 2002. What kind of decision is it, to buy an outdated piece of equipment when considering that the HPT-32 Deepak ( retro fitted with safty systems but never uprated or upgraded) that it replaces first flew in 1977. God Bless Our Brave Sons who fly to defend our country.
A Silver lining in the sky…
why not pc-21??????
It's shame that India, though has built 4th generation aircraft like LCA and planning of building 5th generation AMCA, can't built basic trainer aircraft!!
@Anon 10:48
FYI..HAL is designing HTT-40..but our armed forces seems to like everything foren..
HAL is still waiting for final clearance to commence the detailed design…
The news if true is good. However I dont understand the moaning and groaning about local production . The LCA is neither a 4th Gen or in existence. The Dhruv has a limited use and its Rudra and other Avatars are just to maintain employment – the Armed forces need a light observation chopper, a mid sized machine like Mi 17 and an attack helicopter.
Let us get honest folks and keep the needs of the Pilots and the Country in mind.
This ignorant carping is ridiculous. Has the art of teaching flying to cadets really changed since 1978 or 1997? Clearly the need is for the cheapest, adequate plane for the role. Would Anon@12:51 care to explain which vital capabilities are being lost by buying the PC-7 MkII rather than the PC-21 that our cadets need so urgently?
And who cares about the fictitious HTT-40? There are plenty of good planes to choose from, should HAL really be reinventing the wheel? No one insists that the IAF chief drive around in a Tata Indica because it is Indian. Why shouold we insist that he buy an Indian trainer aircraft?
@Anon 11:46.
First of all, it's not fictitous..HAL designers have already put 2 years of effort in the project..they have reached upto detailed design..just waiting for some stupid ministry clearance..
Moreover..the reason of buying Indian is obvious..why should we fund some other country for a thing which we can make here..
Why to invest poor taxpayers' money in some other country ??..Haven't we funded Swiss enuff through other means 😉
P.S. Dont give this argument that PC-7 is cheap..funding 10 Rs back to the country is much better than giving 8 Rs to someone totally outside..
To the retarded PSU-worshipping morons,
To hell with HAL, it'd take them over a decade to develop a plane on their own, even if they are the heavenly government babus you love to worship and grovel at.
The IAF is losing pilots left and right. Even their BASIC TRAINER AIRCRAFT, the HPT-32, is crash-prone. They need a replacement NOW, not 5-10 years down the line.
And of course, our great UPA Government babus have shafted the IAF yet again. As the poster above said, the Pilatus PC-7 is an old and dated design. It's been upgraded, but even so a newer plane should have been chosen. However the Pilatus was the CHEAPEST, and so our CHEAPSAKE UPA Defence Ministry selected it due to their 'lowest bidder wins' policy.
And dear Mechstud,
Do you know about the LCA(now delayed from 2010 to 2014 despite having done weapons tests already) and the HJT-36 trainer(flying since 2003 and still not anywhere near induction)?
How many IAF pilots will lose their lives due to lacking a reliable trainer in the 5-10 years(minimum) HAL will take to develop and test their heavenly babu-designed HTT-40?
I'm sure you shed no tears for any ordinary mortal pilots that died in defence of your divine govt babus, but their lives and their needs are paramount and more important than supporting HAL's Communist monopoly.
This is the irony of this country when he have people like Gautam..
Do you think that planes are designed by babus..they are much more well educated than noob goons like you…yet they are bound by our system..
IAF knew that they lack a good training platform..yet they never planned for a new trainer development on time..
In 90's HAL proposed a replacement of HPT-32 codenamed "BTT"..But our IAF babus wanted to make some dollars and they still want to make them..
I never said ..give it to HAL only..give it to any Indian company who is capable and willing to take up the development work..but dont simply dump ur precious earned money into foreign lands !!!
To Mechstud the 'educated'
In the 90s there was no money for developing a new trainer. And it was your precious 'learned' babus that cancelled the HTT-35 program abruptly without explanation.
I agree that let an Indian company MANUFACTURE the planes to build up expertise. But there simply is no time for developing a new trainer. Sad to say, majority of people consider IAF pilot lives more valuable than job security for HAL or any other Indian company.
Dear Mechstud,
Yours is outdated thinking. David Ricardo explained the basics of trade hundreds of years ago. If you are competitive at product A, you focus on that and import product B from a country that makes it better. We are happy to buy Suzuki hatches and Toyota sedans, so what's the big deal about importing foreign trainer aircraft made my competent and experienced builders?
HAL's resources are better spent on either items unavailable elsewhere or in which domestic capacities are strategic and vital. I am afraid a basic trainer aircraft does not fulfill either criterion.
Outdated statist thinking has led to the current situation where HAL is a jack of all trades and master of none, while Embraer is a globally competitive company that keeps Boeing and Airbus on its toes.
Formerly Anon@11:46
I remember having seen the mock up of a Turboprop trainer labelled HTT-34 at the first Air show held at IAF Yelahanka, Bangalore in 1994.It resembled the Embraer TUCANO TT. I don't know why the project wasn't given the 'Go Ahead' then. We are now going in for the import of a similar trainer after wasting seventeen long years.
Similarly, when we had the design expertise for the AJT,(didn't we design and produce the more sophisticated and advanced LCA-TEJAS?) we went in for the British HAWK, after almost ten years of dilly-dallying. Instead, we chose to design and develop the IJT(HJT-36-SITARA), which is yet to be inducted into service.
Similarly, didn't we ascertain from the defence forces if there was a large requirement for a four/five tonne-class helicopter like the ALH-DHRUV, before going in for its design and development(for which there is apparently not much demand). Instead the three services more urgently need about 300 Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) to replace the aged Alloutte-2 & 3(Cheetah/Chetak), which they want to import.
It appears that our planners/designers are out of sync. with the users or they seem to be intentionally working at cross purposes, to benefit the import lobby.