| Summary/Abstract |
The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Hindustan Jet Trainer (HJT-36) ‘Sitara’ Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT) was to have been a modern replacement trainer for the HJT-16 Kiran and Polish PZL/WSL TS-11 Iskara that had handled the intermediate training role since the Seventies. The programme to develop an indigenous IJT is now a decade behind schedule as Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) had originally been planned for 2006-07, later revised to 2009-10. According to a report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) earlier this year, “Intermediate training was/is being imparted on vintage trainer aircraft as their replacement is still uncertain”. With the HJT-36 development programme having taken an inordinate amount time and dogged by delays and technical difficulties, the Indian Air Force (IAF) released a Request for Information (RFI) last year for an imported IJT. Less than 1,000 developmental test flights have been conducted since the first two prototypes took to the air in 2003 and 2004, and as of July last year, HAL had managed to produce six Limited Series Production (LSP) IJT aircraft.
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