IAF Takes Delivery of First Three Indigenous HTT-40 Ankur Basic Trainers in Bengaluru

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has handed over the first three indigenous HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF), beginning the long-awaited induction of a homegrown aircraft intended to rebuild India’s basic military flying training capability. The service expects it will take up to two years before the type is used for full-scale Stage-I training of rookie pilots, as more aircraft are delivered and instructors are trained on the new platform.

The first aircraft was formally handed over in Bengaluru on 18 September 2026 at a ceremony attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. In IAF service, the HTT-40 has been named “Ankur”. The initial three aircraft will be based at the Flying Instructors’ School in Tambaram, near Chennai, where they will be used first by instructors rather than trainees.

That early phase is meant to help the Air Force familiarise its instructors with the aircraft, frame standard operating procedures, develop the training syllabus and establish proficiency standards for future trainee pilots. The IAF plans to begin regular ab-initio training only after it has built up a fleet of around 25 to 30 aircraft and created an adequate pool of qualified instructors. The eventual operating base for Stage-I training is expected to be the Air Force Academy near Hyderabad.

The induction comes under a contract for 70 HTT-40 aircraft, valued at approximately ₹6,828–6,838 crore. The agreement was signed around 2023, after earlier steps at DefExpo 2022 and Cabinet approval in March 2023. The deal includes associated equipment and training aids, among them simulators. Deliveries were delayed mainly because of supply-chain problems involving Honeywell TPE331-12B turboprop engines.

Under a related arrangement, Honeywell is supplying 88 engines and kits. An initial batch has been delivered directly, while the rest are to be manufactured by HAL under technology transfer. With engine supply now stabilising, HAL expects to be able to produce up to 20 HTT-40 aircraft a year from its facilities in Bengaluru and Nashik.

The aircraft currently has about 56% indigenous content, and HAL plans to raise this to more than 60% through further indigenisation of components and subsystems. The HTT-40 is designed by HAL’s Aircraft Research and Design Centre and is intended as a fully aerobatic, tandem-seat turboprop trainer. It comes with an air-conditioned cockpit, modern glass cockpit avionics, hot-refuelling capability and zero-zero ejection seats.

Its performance profile places it squarely in the basic training category. The aircraft has a maximum speed of around 450 km/h, a range of approximately 1,000 km, a service ceiling of 6,000 metres and an endurance of about three hours. It is cleared for load factors of +6/-3g. HAL says the type is intended for basic flying, aerobatics, general handling, instrument flying, navigation, night flying and close formation flying.

The HTT-40 first flew on 31 May 2016 and has since gone through extensive development and certification trials. Its induction matters because it restores an indigenous option in the basic trainer segment, which the IAF had been without for years after grounding the earlier HAL-built HPT-32 Deepak fleet in 2009 following a series of fatal crashes.

Since then, Stage-I training for all rookie pilots has been carried out mainly on the Swiss-origin Pilatus PC-7 MkII aircraft, of which the IAF acquired 75. After completing Stage-I, pilots move into fighter, transport or helicopter streams and then progress through later stages on aircraft such as the Kiran, Hawk or the relevant transport and helicopter platforms before operational conversion.

The HTT-40 is expected to complement the PC-7 fleet rather than immediately replace it, while helping to address the IAF’s broader shortfall in basic trainers. The service’s overall requirement is estimated at around 180 aircraft.

The first three deliveries therefore represent only the opening phase of a much larger induction plan, but they also mark the beginning of a carefully paced transition. The IAF is prioritising instructor preparation, syllabus development and fleet build-up before introducing the new aircraft into routine training, a methodical approach aimed at ensuring the HTT-40 is integrated safely and effectively into the pilot training pipeline.