IJT Problems Add to Indian Air Force Training Woes
IJT Problems Add to Indian Air Force Training Woes AIN DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE » OCTOBER 5, 2012 by NEELAM MATHEWS The first prototype of HAL’s HJT-36 intermediate jet trainer (IJT) crashed on a routine flight, the third loss for the program in four years. (Photo: HAL) October 5, 2012, 11:55 AM The delay in development of India’s intermediate jet trainer ( IJT ) by government-owned defense manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics ( HAL ) has the Indian Air Force ( IAF ) worried, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne told AIN in an exclusive interview. The HAL HJT -36 is intended to replace the aging fleet of Kiran Mk II jet trainers in the IAF by 2015. S ince the start of design work in 1997, the IJT program has suffered three accidents, delaying its initial operational capability ( IOC ). When HAL displayed the first two IJT...