The Hindu Business Line : India, Russia ink pact for HAL's jet engines

INDIA and Russia on Thursday signed an inter-governmental agreement on the transfer of licence and technical documentation for the production of AL-55I aeroengines for the intermediate jet trainer (ITJs) programme. HAL is developing the IJTs to replace Kiran trainers.

As per the deal reportedly put at $350 million, HAL will produce the aeroengines at its facility in Koraput under licence. The engine is being developed by NPO Saturn and produced by UMPO.

A HAL release said Mr S. Banerjee, Additional Secretary (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence, and Mr Denisov, Deputy Chairman, Federal Services for Military Technical Co-operation, of Russia, signed the agreement.

The pact follows the one inked by the HAL Chairman, Mr Ashok K. Baweja, and CEO of the Russian defence export company, Rosoboronexport, Mr Sergei Chemezov, at Zhukovsky near Moscow on August 16. Mr Baweja is leading a delegation from the defence PSU to the Moscow International Aerospace Show MAKS-2005 there.

HAL put the initial demand for at least 200 IJT aircraft. With each trainer requiring four engines during its lifetime of 20,000-25,000 flying hours, HAL could be making 800-1,000 AL-551 engines, a senior official said.

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