Nov. 21, 20014 http:///timesofind dia.indiatimess.com/india//India‐likely‐tto‐order‐106‐‐more‐Pilatuss‐aircraft‐to‐ttrain‐ pilots/articcleshow/45225061.cms India likely l to o orderr 106 more m Pillatus aircraft to t train n pilots Rajat Pandit It was w in Sepptember 20009 that thee DAC hadd apprroved the urrgent purchaase of 75 BT TA from thee globbal market, while w 106 BTA B were too be made inn India to meet thhe overall reequirement for f 181 suchh plannes. Finally,, after a global compeetition, Indiaa inkeed the Rs 2,8896 crore deeal for 75 Pillatus BTA inn Mayy 2012. IAF F has inductted 53 of them till now w. An Indian Airr Force pilot marches passt a Pilatus PC‐7 A P g an inductio a aircraft durin on ceremony at the Indian n Air F Force Academ my at Dundig gal near Hyd derabad, on May M 3 31, 2013. (Ge tty Images fille photo) NEW DELH N HI: India is likely l to go in for 106 more m S Swiss Pilatus PC-7 basicc trainer airccraft (BTA),, the b bulk of whiich will be produced domestically d y, to h help train rookie r IAF pilots in a project worth w a around Rs 7,,000 crore. This comees after defence T d PS SU Hinduustan A Aeronautics' attempt to develop d its own o BTA caalled H HTT-40 failled to pass muster wiith the defeence m ministry. First, it woulld have been much more m e expensive thhan the Piilatus BTA already beeing inducted by IAF. Second d, it would have h not mett the t timelines speecified long ago. So, the defennce acquisitiions council (DAC) is slated S t consider thhe case for 106 additionnal Pilatus att the to m meeting to be chaired by Manohhar Parrikarr on S Saturday, sayy sources. One option is O i to buy 38 8 Pilatus offf-the-shelf, with w t rest 68 being the b produ uced by the 5 Base Reepair D Depot (BRD D) of IAF at Sulur. Otheer options coould include impporting only y 10 BTA, with 96 beeing m made in Indiia. IAF had then allso strongly objected to HAL's pushh for its i still-to-deeveloped HT TT-40 on thee ground thaat two types of BTA B would be both "illlogical" andd "exoorbitant" in terms of duplicationn in sparess, mainntenance, infrastructuure and the likee. It's a no-brainer that fighhter pilots have to bee propperly traineed to hanndle highlyy-demandingg supeersonic jets that necesssarily have to t undertakee inheerently dangerous combaat maneuvrees. Similar is true for helicoptter and aircraaft pilots. Nov. 21, 20014 http:///timesofind dia.indiatimess.com/india//India‐likely‐tto‐order‐106‐‐more‐Pilatuss‐aircraft‐to‐ttrain‐ pilots/articcleshow/45225061.cms ""Human erroor (aircrew))" has been the reasonn for o over 39% off the around d 1,100 crashhes recordedd by I IAF since 1970. 1 The other o equallly big killeer is " "technical deefects" causeed by ageinng machines and s shoddy mainntenance. IIt took India 20 years to ink the firstt contract foor 66 t twin-seat Hawk advancced jet trainers (AJTs)) in M March 20044 — now used u to traiin pilots in the intricacies of o combat flying — despite losing h hundreds of fighters and d pilots in crashes. c Anoother 5 Hawks were 57 w then orrdered in Juuly 2010, takking t total projject cost to around the a Rs 166,000 crore. Indian Air Force F pilots march past a Pilatus PC‐7 P g an inductio a aircraft durin on ceremony at the Indian n Air F Force Academ my at Dundig gal, near Hyd derabad, on M May 3 31, 2013. (Getty Images file ph hoto) The induction of o Pilatus, inn turn, was urgent sincee IAF training scchedules forr raw cadetts had gonee hayw wire after thhe entire fleeet of the 1144 old pistonnengiine HPT-32 aircraft, whhich long seerved as thee BTA A, was grouunded in Auugust 2009 after a a crashh killeed the pilot. The intermediatte training foor fighter pilots betweenn the Pilatus P and Hawk H stages, however, still remains a big problem. HAL is yett to deliver on its Sitaraa interrmediate jett trainer (IJT T) despite a delay of 155 yearrs.
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