HAL Tejas twin seater trainer aircraft, built to the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) standard, will be handed over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Bengaluru on Friday, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attending the ceremony. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is also handing over HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft to the IAF and Dhruv Next Generation (NG) helicopters to Pawan Hans Limited (PHL) at the same event, in Karnataka, where Minister of Civil Aviation K Rammohan Naidu will also be present.

A Ministry of Defence statement called the event a milestone in the country's self-reliance journey. It said the ceremony would highlight the role played by HAL and its industry partners in strengthening the domestic aerospace ecosystem, and demonstrate the industry's expanding capability to design, develop and manufacture advanced platforms for both civil and military applications.

HAL Tejas twin seater trainer carries FOC clearance into IAF service

The Tejas twin seater trainer being handed over falls under the Light Combat Aircraft programme's Final Operational Clearance configuration, the stage beyond Initial Operational Clearance that certifies an aircraft variant for full operational use rather than restricted training sorties. HAL has separately been working through a large single seat Tejas Mk1A orderbook for the IAF, and Rajnath Singh has previously reviewed progress on that production line. The twin seat variant fills a different role, doubling as an operational conversion trainer for pilots moving onto the Tejas rather than a frontline fighter.


Rajnath Singh attends as HAL widens its handover beyond the Tejas

Rajnath Singh's presence at Friday's ceremony sets it apart from a routine delivery, and it is not just the HAL Tejas twin seater trainer that benefits from the occasion. HAL is using it to hand over two other platforms as well. HTT-40, an indigenously designed basic trainer aircraft built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to take Indian Air Force cadets through the early, ab-initio stage of pilot training, also goes to the IAF from the same Bengaluru ceremony.


Dhruv NG helicopters go to Pawan Hans, outside the Defence Minister's remit

The third platform in Friday's handover, the Dhruv NG helicopter, goes to a civil operator rather than the armed forces. Pawan Hans Limited, the state-run helicopter company under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, will take delivery of the Next Generation variant of HAL's Advanced Light Helicopter for its own fleet. That delivery places a military-lineage HAL platform into civil service, running alongside HAL's expanding work with private partners on helicopter fuselage production for its combat helicopter line, part of a wider push by the manufacturer to widen the domestic supply base behind its aircraft and helicopter programmes.

HAL's Bengaluru base is common ground across all three deliveries

Whatever the end user, all three platforms handed over on Friday, the Tejas twin seater trainer, the HTT-40 and the Dhruv NG, are designed and built at HAL's Bengaluru facilities, the hub for the company's fixed wing and rotary wing production lines. The Government has accorded high priority to promoting indigenous design, development and manufacturing in the aerospace and defence sectors, and the Ministry of Defence said the induction of these platforms is another step towards strengthening indigenous capabilities and reducing dependence on foreign sources. HAL has also been expanding its engine partnerships to support that production base, including its co-production arrangement with GE Aerospace.

Air Force, civil aviation and HAL leadership join Rajnath Singh in Bengaluru

Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh is scheduled to attend, alongside Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar and Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Samir Kumar Sinha. HAL's Chairman and Managing Director, Ravi K, will represent the manufacturer. The Ministry of Defence said other senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the IAF, PHL, regulatory agencies and stakeholders from the aerospace and defence sectors would also be present in Bengaluru.