Marking a major milestone in the domestic aerospace ecosystem, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) will hand over the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Final Operational Clearance (FOC) Twin Seater Trainers, and the HTT 40 Basic Trainer Aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at Bengaluru, Karnataka, tomorrow. 

The state-run aerospace behemoth will also hand over the Dhruv Next Generation (NG) helicopters to Pawan Hans Limited (PHL) during the event which would also be attended by Minister of Civil Aviation, K Rammohan Naidu. 

The handover marks an important milestone in the country’s self-reliance journey as the event would highlight the role being played by HAL and its industry partners in strengthening the domestic aerospace ecosystem. 

It would also demonstrate the industry’s expanding capability to design, develop, and manufacture advanced platforms for both civil & military applications, the Defence Ministry said in an official release today.

Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh; Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar; Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation Samir Kumar Sinha; CMD, HAL Ravi K, and other senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Civil Aviation, IAF, PHL, regulatory agencies and stakeholders from the aerospace & defence sectors would also be present on the occasion.

The Government has accorded high priority to promoting indigenous design, development and manufacturing in the aerospace & defence sectors. 

“The induction of these platforms is another step towards strengthening the indigenous capabilities and reducing dependence on foreign sources,” the Defence Ministry said.