Defects delay delivery of Hawk advanced jet trainers

NEW DELHI - The delivery of 42 Hawk advanced jet trainers (AJTs) to the Indian Air Force (IAF) has been delayed due to various shortcomings in the parts supplied by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju said Thursday.

“Delivery of 42 (Hawk AJT) aircraft was scheduled from 2007-2008 to 2010-2011 in a phased manner. Three aircraft were to be built from semi-knocked down (SKD) kits, three from completely knocked down (CKD) kits and 36 from the raw material phase,” he said in a written answer in the Rajya Sabha.

“The CKD and SKD kits were assembled on schedule. When production of the raw material phase was taken up, it was found that the equipment supplied by the OEM had various shortcomings. The assembly jigs that were supplied did not meet the requirements, there was mismatch in the kits and components supplied and there were defects in major assemblies like the wing spar,” he added.

“These problems took time to overcome and hence affected the production schedule at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL),” he said.

HAL has manufactured 12 aircraft till now, three in 2008-2009 and nine in 2009-2010, including the first aircraft from raw material stage.

According to the contract signed in 2004, BAE Systems was to provide 66 Hawk Advanced Trainer Jets (AJTs). Of these, 24 aircraft were to be built in Britain and the rest were to be manufactured in India between 2007-08 and 2010-11.