New Delhi: The Indian Air Force is facing a problem in turning freshly trained pilots into air warriors as it ist yet to operate its Stage-2 trainer aircraft HAL HJT-36 Sitara.
The intermediate jet trainer (IJT) is in the making with HAL for the last 14 years but is yet to become fully-operational.
HAL started design work on an intermediate jet trainer in 1997. In 1999, following reviews by the Indian Air Force, the Government of India awarded HAL a contract for development, testing and certification of two prototype IJT aircraft.
The HJT-36 was to have entered service with the IAF in June 2012 as a Stage-II trainer, replacing the ageing HAL Kiran Mk.1/2s in service. But with trials still on to prove the platform as a robust training jet (one prototype crashed during spin tests in April last year), it is unlikely that the IJT will be accorded initial operational clearance (IOC) anytime soon.
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) is ) still struggling to deliver its intermediate jet trainer (IJT).
As of March 13, 2013 the contract for 12 LSP and 73 Full Rate production aircraft is delayed till 2014 but IAF is still doubting weather they will be able to meet the deadline or not.
This delay by HAL is affecting the training of rookie pilots .
Pilots are trained in three stages, first on a basic trainer aircraft (BTA), then on a IJT and finally on an advanced jet trainer (AJT) to learn the complex and inherently-dangerous art of combat flying.
Absence of this stage 2 trainer is making the pilots taking their lives at risk.
IAF has for long been saddled with unsafe, obsolete training aircraft like HPT-32 and Kirans, with new pilots often being unable to handle highly-demanding fighters like MiG-21s. Almost 40% of the 1,050 crashes recorded by IAF since 1970, for instance, have been attributed to “human error (aircrew)”.
