By Craig Hoyle at RAF Valley
The Indian air force is satisfied with the results of a bilateral pilot training arrangement with the UK Royal Air Force at the mid-point of the project to instruct 75 students on the British Aerospace Hawk T1/1A, say programme sources at RAF Valley in north Wales. The training package is linked to an Indian order for 66 BAE Systems Hawk 132Y advanced jet trainers.
Under the agreement, which began in July 2004, Indian students undergo basic fast-jet and weapons training at Valley, respectively with the RAF's 208 and 19 Squadrons. New Delhi has contracted 8,925 flight hours for completion by March 2008. The sixth of 12 training courses is on schedule to graduate next month, and a mid-point training review is expected to take place between the partner air forces during September.
"There was a large training gap when we started," says Rod Harrison, India flying training manager for BAE Systems Customer Solutions and Support. "But now the Indian air force is doing some RAF procedures in India and has introduced a more robust selection process." As a result, he says, 28 of the 32 students to participate in the five courses completed to date have graduated, with three failing on flying performance and one on medical grounds. "The Indian air force finds its [UK-trained] pilots are more flexible and have better situational awareness than those to have passed through its own training course," says Harrison, who notes that some graduates have already gone on to fly the Sukhoi Su-30 fighter.
■ The RAF marked the completion of 1 million flying hours by its Hawk T1/1A fleet during a 5 July ceremony at RAF Valley. The original Hawker Siddeley Hawk completed its first flight in August 1974, and the RAF took delivery of its first two of 175 examples in November 1976.
Source: Flight International
