Bangalore: Delivery of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.'s Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT), known as the Hindustan Jet Trainer (HJT)-36, to the Indian Air Force (IAF) has been delayed. The IJT, which will form the backbone of the IAF's pilot training programme, is meant to replace the IAF's workhorse HJT-16, or Kiran.

HAL, which received an order for 12 Limited Series Production (LSP) aircraft for the IJT, was originally supposed to start deliveries by 2006-07. Now, HAL is also unlikely to meet the revised 2007-08 schedule.

HAL has been primarily hampered by the non-availability of the new Russian engine and the crash of one of the two prototypes. The crash, which occurred during the Aero India 2007 air show in February when the aircraft's canopy opened even while the pilot was about to take off, has resulted in the IJT's flight test schedules going awry.

With just one flyable aircraft, HAL has not been to clock the number of hours that are required for certification and then for the all important initial operational clearance (IOC).

Both the IJT prototypes flew with the French-made Snecma Larzac 04H20 engine. But a new and more powerful engine being developed by the Russian aircraft engine designer/manufacturer NPO-Saturn will power production models of the IJT. But it is still nowhere in sight. The new power plant, which is a scaled-down version of the AL-31FP engine that flies the Su-30 MKI combat aircraft, will first have to be tested on a Russian test bed, then a Russian flying platform, before it flies the actual platform (IJT) it is being designed for.

Without a certified engine and evolving `standard operating procedures' (using that engine), HAL will not be able to undertake any LSP deliveries.

Problematic nose-wheel

Sources allege that flight-testing, which should have been completed by 2007, has also been hampered by a problematic nose-wheel and a yet-to-be-perfected braking system.

Sanctioned by the Government in 1999 with an initial budget of Rs. 180 crore, the HPT-36, christened Sitara, made its first flight in March 2003.

It was designed and developed by HAL's Aircraft Research and Design Centre with contribution from the Aeronautical Development Agency, a number of public sector units and other government agencies. Around 225 HJT-36s are to be eventually produced, serving the IAF, the Navy as well as the IAF's Surya Kiran aerobatic team.

Though the delayed delivery schedules of the IJT will affect the IAF, sources told The Hindu that changes in the IAF's training schedules have reduced flying on the Kiran, thereby prolonging the fleet's life.

Changes in training

Explained Air Marshal B.K. Pandey, former Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, "In 2001 we took the decision to trifurcate trainee pilots after the basic turboprop training stage itself. This way, cadets who were to be commissioned as helicopter or transport pilots didn't have to fly the Kirans. We also decided that there was no point in pilots undergoing courses at the Flying Instructors School flying both the piston and the jet (Kiran) trainer. These two measures allowed us to save around 6,000 hours of flying on the Kirans every year, a saving of 33 per cent, and an extension of the aircraft's life till 2015."

The IAF, which presently has over 100 Kiran aircraft, loses on an average around two or three of the aircraft every year.

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