UPDATE:India To Order 57 More Hawk Trainer Jets From BAE Systems

27th Jul 2010 15:42

(Adds more comments from Hindustan Aeronautics chairman, background) By Santanu Choudhury Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--India is set to order an additional 57 Hawk trainer jets from the U.K.'s BAE Systems PLC (BA.LN) for its air force and navy, the chairman of state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. said Tuesday. The order is valued at more than GBP700 million, of which more than GBP500 million would go toward purchasing the planes from BAE and the remainder to Rolls-Royce Group PLC (RR.LN) for engines, Ashok Nayak told Dow Jones Newswires. He said the aircraft order will be officially announced during the visit to India this week of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron. India ordered 66 Hawk advanced jet trainers in 2004 for $1.45 billion for its air force. The country wants to buy more Hawk trainers to better train its pilots for flying supersonic combat jets such as the Sukhoi-30MKI and Jaguar. As in the 2004 agreement, 24 aircraft were ordered in "fly away condition." Of the remaining 42, HAL has produced 15 so far under license from BAE, Nayak said. He said the additional 57 aircraft will also be produced by HAL from raw materials supplied by BAE. The Hawk, which can also be used as a combat aircraft, can fly at a maximum speed of 1.2 times the speed of sound. More than 900 Hawk jets are currently in operation or have been ordered by 18 customers worldwide, according to BAE. "All things have been sorted out," Nayak said when asked about previous issues with BAE over delays in the domestic production of the Hawk jets. He declined to elaborate. Nayak said also a joint venture between HAL and Russia's Irkut Corp. to make a multirole transport plane is on track. "The joint venture is for the new design and manufacturing process of the aircraft," he said. -By Santanu Choudhury, Dow Jones Newswires; +91-11-4356-3305; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 27, 2010 10:42 ET (14:42 GMT)