Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Industry and Business News .




MILPLEX
Crisis time nears for India's cadet pilots
by Staff Writers
New Delhi (UPI) Jun 28, 2012


disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

India's air force faces a pilot training crisis in two years unless Hindustan Aeronautics delivers its new Intermediate Jet Trainer on time.

Until 2009, every pilot -- fighter, transport and helicopter -- started training in the Hindustan Piston Trainer but the HPT-32 was grounded in 2009 after a series of crashes.

Cadets now start straight into operating the Kiran Mk-1, the intermediate jet trainer that is the mainstay Stage 2 pilot training aircraft.

But the two-seat Kiran, which was introduced in 1968, will complete its lifespan by 2015 and will have to be decommissioned, a report by India's NDTV said.

The new Intermediate Jet Trainer by HAL and known as Sitara first flew in 2003 and is slated to replace the Kirans.

Initial prototypes used a SNECMA Turbomeca Larzac 04-H-20 turbofan engine. Production versions will use an NPO Saturn AL-55I turbofan engine.

But the military is concerned that the IJT, of which around 200 will be needed, won't be ready in time.

"It isn't a panic situation yet but in another six to eight months, if the IJT program doesn't come to speed, we will have to hit the panic button," an unnamed senior air force officer told NDTV.

"We are keeping our fingers crossed and hope that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited will deliver this time," he said.

The NDTV report said the air force is cutting back on the number of flying hours per trainee pilot in the Kirans in order to extend the life of the aircraft.

The earlier versions of the subsonic low swept-wing Kiran have Rolls-Royce Viper turbo-jet engines while later versions have RR's Orpheus turbo-jets.

The minimum flying hours that a cadet is required to fly in Stage 1 training has been cut about 40 percent.

"The training schedule of cadets has been rescheduled so that we don't exhaust the available life span of the Kirans too quickly," an air force official told NDTV.

If HAL fails to deliver the IJT by 2015 then the air force may have to send its pilots overseas for their basic training, a situation "not acceptable," the air force official said.

Several of the IJT prototypes have had accidents, although none fatal.

During an Aero India exposition in 2007 an IJT prototype careened off the runway after its canopy inadvertently opened just as the pilot was getting airborne for an aerobatic sortie, a report in the Hindu newspaper said.

As a direct replacement for the turbo-prop HPT-32, India has order 75 Swiss Pilatus PC-7 MK II aircraft for around $520 million, NDTV said. The first aircraft are expected by the end of the year.

The arrival of the Swiss-made aircraft will reduce flying hours on the Kirans which nonetheless still will be nearing their decommissioning period.

.


Related Links
The Military Industrial Complex at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








MILPLEX
United Technologies sold military software to China: US
Washington (AFP) June 28, 2012
United Technologies Corp. and two of its subsidiaries have pleaded guilty to exporting software that helped China build its first military attack helicopter, US officials said Thursday. United Technologies, Canada-based Pratt and Whitney and US-based Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation entered guilty pleas to criminal charges and agreed to pay more than $75 million to the government in a settlem ... read more


MILPLEX
France pulls plug on Internet forerunner Minitel

Abuse at Apple's China suppliers: watchdog

Google rolls in tablet market with Nexus 7

Mercury mineral evolution

MILPLEX
Lockheed Martin Selected to Manage Major Defense Information Systems Network Operations

Lockheed Martin Selected to Deliver Major Improvements to DoD's ISR Information Sharing Capabilities

Boeing FAB-T Demonstrates Communications with On-orbit AEHF Satellite

Lockheed Martin Completes Environmental Testing on Second US Navy Satellite

MILPLEX
SpaceX's Merlin 1D Engine Achieves Full Mission Duration Firing

USAF officials announce milestone Atlas V launch

EVE Underflight Calibration Sounding Rocket Launch

ILS and AsiaSat Announce a New Contract for an ILS Proton Launch

MILPLEX
Trial by vacuum brings next Galileo satellites closer to launch

Boeing Completes Fifth GPS IIF Satellite for USAF

GPS being used as weather forecast tool

Apple fends off Android challenge with maps, Siri

MILPLEX
Northrop Grumman's F-35 DAS and Radar Demonstrate Ability to Detect, Track, Target Ballistic Missiles

Canada to buy new jet trainer aircraft

LockMart Provides Italian MoD with Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Aircraft

Variable camber airfoil: New concept, new challenge

MILPLEX
New technique allows simulation of noncrystalline materials

Study of phase change materials could lead to better computer memory

Japan's Renesas says major investors to offer aid

Megapixel camera? Try gigapixel

MILPLEX
Arianespace to launch DZZ-HR high-resolution observation satellite

China to invest in Earth monitoring system

Delving Inside Earth from Space

Earth observation for us and our planet

MILPLEX
Bulgaria passes new waste law in bid to dodge EU fines

Evidence of oceanic 'green rust' offers hope for the future

Maths formula leads researchers to source of pollution

Lab-on-a-chip detects trace levels of toxic vapors in homes near Utah Air Force Base




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement