The Indian Air Force received its first two BAE Systems Hawk Mk 132 advanced jet trainers at Bidar air force base, Karnataka on Monday.
The two jets are the first of 66 Hawk aircraft to be delivered to the Indian air force as of part of a training package for fast jet pilots and flew in from Warton airfield in UK.
These machines will impart stage-III training to the newly commissioned fighter pilots of the IAF at Bidar from June, next.
The training programme includes the delivery of 24 BAE Systems-built aircraft and 42 aircraft manufactured under licence in India by Bangalore’s Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).
The Hawk pair flown by a mix crew of BAE Systems and IAF pilots, Wing Commander Pankaj Jain and Squadron Leader Tarun Hindwani, first landed in India at the Jamnagar airbase while ferrying from Muscat, their previous stopover, on their way to Bidar. A senior Indian Air Force official says, ?The Hawk aircraft, with a proven design and advanced avionics, will bridge the gap between the performance spectrum of the intermediate trainer and front line fighter aircraft which trainee pilots will finally fly in operational squadrons.?