BENGALURU: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chairman and Managing Director Dr DK Sunil on Monday said that they were working on developing the upgraded training aircraft — Yashas — renamed and upgraded version of Hindustan Jet Trainer (HJT)-36- Sitara — for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
“They are talking of four initially we have prepared two. Certification for two more is needed. The Bengaluru AST can be used for testing of the aircraft,” he told TNIE.
Elaborating, Dr Sunil said that it has risen like a phoenix, and it is an important one for the IAF.
Group Captain and trainer A Menon said that this is the best trainer aircraft in the world under the stage-2 aircraft category. With the turbo-cop, this will replace the Kiran and jet trainers. So after training in this, pilots need not go from aircraft to aircraft. This has auto and voice control panels, and the entire cockpit is made of glass.
Explaining the features, Dr Sunil said that trials of spin, sea level, crosswind, stall, and spin have been done, and partial weapon trials have also been done. HAL has worked on this for the last 8-9 years. Extensive changes have been done inside the cockpit and on the outer design, and all old issues have been addressed. The aircraft is now with a new look and a new cockpit for training.