Hindustan Aeronautics signs $100-mn deal with Honeywell for trainer engines

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has signed a $100 million contract with US engine-maker Honeywell, for 88 engines to power the indigenous Hindustan Turbo Trainer – 40 (HTT-40), on which Army, Navy and Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots will first learn to fly.

“HAL signed a contract worth over $100 million for supply and manufacture of 88 TPE331-12B engines/kits along with maintenance and support services to power the HTT-40,” stated a Ministry of Defence (MoD) press announcement on Wednesday.

“HAL has successfully developed Basic Trainer Aircraft (HTT-40) to address the basic training requirements of the IAF. There is potential requirement of 70 aircraft. The contract for the same with IAF is under advanced stage of approval,” said R Madhavan, HAL’s Chairman and Managing Director.

In designing and developing the HTT-40, HAL has proven a point against a sceptical IAF, which opposed the HTT-40, blocked development funding, and demanded that the expensive Pilatus PC-7 Mark-II Swiss trainer be imported and the HTT-40 programme scuttled.

“There is no need for [the HTT-40 trainer],” IAF boss Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, said dismissively at the Aero India show in February 2013.

“We have the Pilatus PC-7. It’s a proven aircraft. The project HAL plan is from scratch. Our indications are that the cost will be too high. There is no need for all this.”

An incensed HAL took up the challenge, and committed Rs 350 crore of internal HAL funds to the HTT-40 project. A team of young, talented HAL designers worked without IAF assistance to bring the aircraft to flight in 2016. While the final price of the HTT-40 is still being negotiated between HAL and the IAF, Business Standard learns it is in the range of Rs 50-55 crore – about the same as a Pilatus PC-7 Mark-II on Wednesday. The HTT-40 is a propeller-driven aircraft for “Stage-1” training of rookie pilots. After 80 hours of basic training on the HTT-40, pilots will move on to “Stage-2” training on the HAL-built Kiran Mark-II jet trainer. Those selected to fly fighter aircraft move on to “Stage-3” training on the Hawk advanced jet trainer (AJT). Only after that will they graduate to flying frontline fighters in the IAF’s combat squadrons.

The advanced systems in the HTT-40 include a pressurised cockpit (which allows flight at high altitudes), “zero-zero” ejection seats (which allow ejection even from a static aircraft), and a state-of-the-art, glass cockpit display with “in-flight simulation” that permits flight instructors to electronically simulate various system failures, allowing the rookie pilot to handle the “emergency”.

The IAF, which currently imparts basic training to army and navy pilots in addition to its own, calculates that it needs 181 basic trainer aircraft. It has already bought 75 Pilatus PC-7 Mark-II trainers. After building and inducting 72 HTT-40s in IAF training schools, there will still be a requirement for 34 more basic trainers. If the HTT-40 performs well, that order will also go to HAL.

“Our TPE331-12 family of engines has proven itself in operations all over the world, and we have committed to support and deliver engines as well as kits within the stipulated schedule to meet the requirements of the IAF,” said Eric Walters, of Honeywell Defense & Space.  

The TPE331-12B engine is a single-shaft, turboprop engine with a two stage centrifugal compressor, power turbine, gearbox and an electronic engine controller (EEC) for reliable power and operational characteristics.