NEW DELHI (BNS): The first Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer, assembled at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited facility in Bangalore, was inducted into the Indian Air Force yesterday.

Hawk-MK 132, produced under licence by HAL is the 15th aircraft to be inducted into the IAF. India had signed a contract to purchase 66 AJTs from BAE Systems. Fourteen of these aircraft were delivered directly by the British manufacturer while the rest would be build under licence by HAL.

"The handover of the first HAL assembled aircraft is a significant day for HAL and the Hawk programme. BAE Systems and HAL have worked in partnership in many areas of the Indian Hawk programme, and the delivery of this first HAL assembled aircraft is the latest example of this partnership in action," said Michael Christie, senior vice president Hawk International.

India has already started training its rookie fighter pilots on Hawks at IAF base in Bidar, Karnataka, where necessary changes have been made to accommodate the new aircraft. Hawk is a transonic, ground attack trainer with heads up display and other modern avionics.

The pilots can get advanced and basic training to fly fighter jets. The aircraft can be used as fighter in an emergency. India is buying 57 more Hawks, out of which, 17 would be flown by navy and the rest will be inducted in IAF.

The induction of Hawk was not without its share of controversies. The contract for buying an AJT will go down as one of the longest negotiated defence agreements in the history of Indian arms purchase. It took nearly two decades for the Indian ministry of defence to order the trainers.

The first aircraft was delivered earlier this year but the IAF faced problem of spares. The issue was settled after top IAF officials flew down to England to held discussions with the British manufacturer to sort out the mess.

To make the matter worse, one of the aircraft crashed during a training sortie. The IAF's inquiry into the incident revealed that there were no technical issues with the aircraft and blamed pilot for the mishap.

BEA Systems will have to honour its Indian contract even though it suffered a setback last month in Singapore. The South East Asian country rejected Hawk trainer for its armed force and hinted it would either settle for Alenia Aermacchi M-346 and Lockheed Martin's T-50 built in collaboration with Korean Aerospace Industries.