'It is most pertinent to note that in over 25 years of flying, Captain Sabharwal had not had a single incident or accident-causing fatalities or otherwise'
The Indian Air Force will order 37 additional Pilatus trainer aircraft from Swiss manufacturer Pilatus Aircraft Company, over and above the 75 trainers the IAF has already contracted for Rs 2,900 crore. That will take to 112 the number of Pilatus PC-7 Mark II trainers on order from the IAF.
The MiG-21's sharp silhouette and supersonic roar will live on in the memories of those who flew it, those who maintained it, and those who watched it streak across the sky as a symbol of India's strength, asserts IAF veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
The death of a young pilot and three fighter jet crashes prompt the question -- should there be more simulation training?
HAL aims to raise output from the current ceiling of 24 aircraft a year to 30 by the end of 2027
'The aircraft is expected to be ready for rollout between January and March 2026, and to fly by the end of the year.'
An advanced jet trainer aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed in a paddy field at Kudarsahi in Mayurbhanj district on Wednesday, leaving two pilots injured.
The Union defence ministry is pressing ahead with the Rs 1,800 crore purchase of seventy-five PC-7 Mark II basic trainer aircraft from Pilatus Aircraft Ltd of Switzerland.
'The tone of the preliminary report creates a narrative towards pilot error. This is wrong.' 'Selected conversation has been divulged. It's not as if the pilots did not speak anything else in the cockpit.'
Hindustan Turboprop Trainer is a tandem seat trainer aircraft being developed at HAL for the first stage training of rookie pilots.
'What we need to watch is how Saudi Arabia's financial assistance will be used by Pakistan. If the funds go to build their military hardware and operations, it should worry us.'
During these seven decades, the IAF has lost 2,374 aircraft to crashes. They include 1,126 fighters and 1,248 non-combat aircraft. In addition, 229 trainers and 196 helicopters have crashed. These crashes have resulted in the deaths of 1,305 skilled pilots, note Ajai Shukla and Devesh Kapur.
HAL's HTT-40 aircraft have outperformed both Swiss Pilatus planes and the IAF's performance criteria. Why then does the IAF prefer the Pilatus to the HTT-40?
Two Pakistan Air Force personnel were reported missing after a trainer aircraft crashed into the Indus river in the country's northwest on Wednesday, officials said.
The CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry in 2016 which was later converted into a regular case, they added.
The trails of mega-mergers, tailwinds of expanding fleets, flights and airports will dot the fast-growing Indian aviation firmament in 2025, though the dark clouds of supply chain woes will persist longer. Also, new airline takeoffs, the future trajectory of revised norms to tackle pilot fatigue and efforts to reduce carbon emissions will be on the radar.
The aircraft deal worth around Euro 5.5 billion was cleared by the defence acquisition council just before the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to France as the state guest for their Bastille Day parade this year in July.
This was the first time two chiefs of the armed forces undertook a flight together.
The HAL displayed for the first time the scale model HLFT-42, at the Aero India.
Pulling up Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for an inordinate delay of 14 years in the development and supply of a trainer aircraft, the CAG has observed that the time overrun has affected the Stage-II training of IAF pilots.
Videos from the scene, shot by locals in Morena, showed debris of the aircraft on the ground.
The plane went up in flames as it crashed with an explosion and thick smoke billowed from the spot, leaving passersby and residents living around the airport in a shock.
Defence sources said the pilot spotted fire during the take off roll, aborted the take off and carried out safe exit.
As the United States withdraws its forces from neighbouring Afghanistan, the Obama administration has armed Pakistan with 14 combat aircraft, 59 military trainer jets and 374 armoured personnel carriers, an internal Congressional report has said.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the Bengaluru-based public sector aircraft builder, has challenged the Indian Air Force's plan to purchase more Pilatus trainer aircraft by building a basic trainer aircraft, using its own funding.
The pilot ejected safely and a court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, the IAF said in a brief statement.
India needs to be technologically and militarily prepared to defend itself from both Pakistan and China, alerts Ramesh Menon.
If India caves in to US pressure as Trump hopes it will, he will further try to blackmail it into submission, points out Ramesh Menon.
In a major development, India is planning to buy 26 Rafale fighter aircraft and three Scorpene class conventional submarines from France.
The parents of Squadron Leader Abhimanyu Rai, an IAF pilot who died in a trainer jet crash in December 2023, have expressed their anguish over being ignored for entitlements and honours that were given to their daughter-in-law. They believe the government policy should be revised to include parents of martyred soldiers. Group Captain Amitabh Rai (retd) and his wife Chitralekha, the bereaved parents, say they have received no condolences from the government despite losing their only son. They argue that the current policy unfairly favors the martyr's wife, often leading to neglect of the parents. The Rais claim their son's death is not being recognized as a "battle casualty" and therefore he is not being treated as a martyr. They also raise concerns about the pressure on IAF trainers to complete training programs successfully, even when cadets are not prepared, potentially endangering both the trainer and the cadet.
With Fujian, China's third and most advanced aircraft carrier, having started sea trials last week, the PLA needed at least 200 qualified carrier-based fighter jet pilots to operate 130 ship-borne aircraft.
The indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-Dhruv) and the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will not be part of the upcoming Republic Day flypast in India due to the grounding of the entire fleet of ALH-Dhruv helicopters following a crash earlier this month. The grounding of the helicopters is a result of a Coast Guard ALH crash in Porbandar, Gujarat on January 5, which claimed the lives of two pilots and an aircrew diver. The decision to exclude the ALH-Dhruv and Tejas from the flypast comes as a high-level probe panel investigates the cause of the crash.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on Wednesday handed over the first LCA Tejas twin-seater aircraft to the Indian Air Force.
Seven years ago, an IAF chief had ordered the HTT-40 to be removed from the Yelahanka air base. The IAF now wants HAL to build 108 HTT-40 aircraft.
State-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on Thursday said it has received a Request for Proposal (RFP) from the Indian Air Force for basic trainer HTT-40.
'Today's situation is unacceptable. It has the potential to affect the IAF's operational capability.'
The American government is providing the used aircraft free of cost to Pakistan, which will only have to bear the shipment costs. The delivery of the aircraft was authorised by the US administration on Wednesday.
Research and development (R&D) spending by BSE 100 companies has grown steadily, rising from 0.89 per cent of revenue in FY20 to 1.32 per cent in FY24, averaging around 1 per cent over the period in-between, according to data compiled from Bloomberg and company annual reports. Also, these companies more than doubled their R&D spending in absolute terms over these five years: From Rs 25,041 crore to Rs 63,072 crore. While this reflects a prioritisation of innovation, corporate R&D investment remains relatively conservative.
Stunning landscapes, natural beauty, clean beaches, cultural wealth, mouth-watering food, shopping options, safety for solo travellers, warm hospitality, easy visas, and connectivity make Vietnam a must-visit destination, discovers Ramesh Menon.
