Military Procurement International Vol. 19, No. 7, April 1, 2009
Copyright DAPSS S.A., 200
9, Switzerland. It is unlawful to reproduce any of this publication without written permission from the publisher.
INDIA
Plan
for additional Hawk jet trainers is shelved
The Indian Air Force has dropped plans to order another batch of 40 BAE Systems Hawk jet trainers, to add to the 66 on order, after Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) allegedly found it difficult to maintain the production lines for the 42 Hawks it is manufacturing in-country, due to “considerable delays in spares supplies.”
In stead, the Air Force revealed that it had issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in February to six companies for improved Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs). The six companies are: the Czech Republic’s Aero Vodochody (with the L-159B); Italy’s Alenia Aermacchi (M-346 Master); the UK’s BAE Systems (Hawk 128); Korea Aerospace Industries (T-50 Golden Eagle); Russia’s RSK MiG (Mig-AT); and Russia’s Yakovlev (Yak-130).