New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Cabinet Committee on Security’s approval to sign a contract for acquisition of three Cadet Training Ships (CTS) will cater to the training requirements of the Navy and strengthen it further. He said the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting which was chaired by him approved the procurement of 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft for the IAF which would strengthen the ongoing efforts to make the defence sector self-reliant while also benefiting the vibrant MSME sector.
“The CCS under the chairmanship of PM Narendra Modi has accorded approval to sign a contract for acquisition of 3 Cadet Training Ship (CTS) at an overall cost of Rs. 3108.09 Crores under Buy-Indian (IDDM) Category,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted.
In another tweet, Singh said, “The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved procurement of 70 HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft at the cost of Rs 6,828.36 crores. The aircraft will be supplied over a period of six years.”
Tagging the tweet, Modi said, “This is an important CCS decision which will add strength to the ongoing efforts to make our defence sector self-reliant and will also benefit the vibrant MSME sector.”
The HTT-40 aircraft is expected to meet the shortage of basic trainer aircraft of the IAF required for training newly inducted pilots. The HTT-40 is a turboprop aircraft designed to have good low-speed handling qualities and provide better training effectiveness. It has a fully aerobatic tandem seat turbo trainer with an air-conditioned cockpit, modern avionics, hot re-fuelling, running change over and zero-zero ejection seats.
The HTT-40 contains around 56 per cent indigenous content, which would increase to over 60 per cent through the indigenisation of major components and subsystems. The HAL would engage Indian private industry, including MSMEs, in its supply chain.
Procurement is seen as the means of employment, which is expected to generate direct employment for nearly 1,500 personnel and indirect employment for up to 3,000 people spread over more than 100 MSMEs.
The acquisition of the HTT-40 provides a fillip to the Indian Aerospace Defence ecosystem by boosting efforts towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
