Article Posted on : - Aug 17, 2011

Advance Jet Trainer (AJT) for Indian Air Force (IAF). A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Delivery of 40 Advance Jet Trainer (AJT) for Indian Air Force (IAF) and 17 for Indian Navy (IN) will begin from 2013 and is expected to be completed by 2016, government said Wednesday.

In his written reply to a question on purchase of AJTs in Rajya Sabha, Defence Minister A K Antony said, "In July 2010, government signed a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for procurement of additional 57 AJT. Of these, 40 are for IAF and 17 for Navy."

"Delivery of these aircraft will commence from 2013 and is expected to be completed by 2016," he said.

Informing the House on purchase of AJT from UK, Antony said, "In March 2004, government had signed a contract with BAE Systems and Rolls Royce Turbomeca UK for procurement of 24 Hawk AJTs and with HAL, Bengaluru for license manufacture of another 42 AJT under Transfer of Technology (ToT) for IAF."

All the 24 direct supply aircraft have been delivered by BAE Systems, while 28 out of 42 aircraft contracted with HAL have been delivered till July 2011.

Replying to a question on defence imports, Antony said, "Procurement of defence equipment is made from various indigenous as well as foreign sources to keep the forces in a state of readiness to meet any eventuality."

For more self-reliance in defence production, government announced Defence Production Policy (DPP) in Jan 2011 to ensure expeditious procurement of requirements of the forces in terms of capabilities sought and time-frame prescribed by optimal utilization of allocated budget, he said.

In his reply to a related question, Antony said between 2004 to 2011, Defence equipment have been imported from countries like US, Russia, Israel, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, South Africa, Ukraine, Italy, Singapore etc.