Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (हिन्दुस्तान एरनॅटिक्स लिमिटेड) (HAL) (हि ए लि,) based in Bangalore, India, is one of Asia's largest aerospace companies. Under the management of the Indian Ministry of Defence, this state-owned company is mainly involved in aerospace industry, which includes manufacturing and assembling aircraft, navigation and related communication equipment, as well as operating airports.

HAL built the first military aircraft in South Asia and is currently involved in the design, fabrication and assembly of aircraft, jet engines, and helicopters, as well as their components and spares. It has several facilities spread across several states in India including Nasik, Korwa, Kanpur, Koraput, Lucknow, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The German engineer Kurt Tank designed the HF-24 Marut fighter-bomber, the first fighter aircraft made in India.

Hindustan Aeronautics has a long history of collaboration with several other international and domestic aerospace agencies such as Airbus, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Sukhoi Aviation Corporation, Elbit Systems, Israel Aircraft Industries, RSK MiG, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce plc, Dassault Aviation, MBDA, EADS, Dornier Flugzeugwerke, the Indian Aeronautical Development Agency and the Indian Space Research Organisation.

History


HAL was established as Hindustan Aircraft in Bangalore in 1940 by Seth Walchand Hirachand to produce military aircraft for the Royal Indian Air Force. The initiative was actively encouraged by the Kingdom of Mysore, especially by the Diwan, Sir Mirza Ismail and it also had financial help from the Indian Government. Mysore was favoured because of the availability of cheap electricity. The organisation and equipment for the factory at Bangalore was set up by William D. Pawley of the Intercontinental Aircraft Corporation of New York, an exporter of American aircraft to the region. Pawley managed to obtain a large number of machine-tools and equipment from the United States.

The Indian Government bought a one-third stake in the company and by April 1941 as it believed this to be a strategic imperative. The decision by the government was primarily motivated to boost British military hardware supplies in Asia to counter the increasing threat posed by Imperial Japan during Second World War. The Kingdom of Mysore supplied two directors, Air Marshal John Higgins was resident director. The first aircraft built was a Harlow PC-5 On 2 April 1942, the government announced that the company had been nationalised when it had bought out the stakes of Seth Walchand Hirachand and other promoters so that it could act freely. The Mysore Kingdom refused to sell its stake in the company but yielded the management control over to the Indian Government.

In 1943 the Bangalore factory was handed over to the United States Army Air Forces but still using Hindustan Aircraft management. The factory expanded rapidly and became the centre for major overhaul and repair of American aircraft and was known as the 84th Air Depot. The first aircraft to be overhauled was a Consolidated PBY Catalina followed by every type of aircraft operated in India and Burma. When returned to Indian control two years later the factory had become one of the largest overhaul and repair organisations in the East. In the post war reorganization the company built railway carriages as an interim activity.

After India gained independence in 1947, the management of the company was passed over to the Government of India.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was formed on 1 October 1964 when Hindustan Aircraft Limited joined the consortium formed in June by the IAF Aircraft Manufacturing Depot, Kanpur (at the time manufacturing HS.748 under licence) and the group recently set up to manufacture Mig-21 under licence (with its new factories planned in Koraput, Nasik and Hyderabad). Though HAL was not used actively for developing newer models of fighter jets, the company has played a crucial role in modernization of the Indian Air Force. In 1957 company started manufacturing Bristol Siddeley Orpheus jet engines under license at new factory located in Bangalore.

During the 1980s, HAL's operations saw a rapid increase which resulted in the development of new indigenous aircraft such as the HAL Tejas and HAL Dhruv. HAL also developed an advanced version of the MiG-21, known as MiG-21 Bison, which increased its life-span by more than 20 years. HAL has also obtained several multi-million dollar contracts from leading international aerospace firms such as Airbus, Boeing and Honeywell to manufacture aircraft spare parts and engines.

By 2012, HAL was reportedly been bogged down in the details of production and has been slipping on its schedules.

Operations
One of the largest aerospace companies in Asia, HAL has annual turnover of over US$2 billion. More than 40% of HAL's revenues come from international deals to manufacture aircraft engines, spare parts, and other aircraft materials. A partial list of major operations undertaken by HAL includes the following:

International agreements



 * The US$35 billion fifth-generation fighter jet program with the Sukhoi Corporation of Russia.
 * US$1 billion contract to manufacture aircraft parts for Boeing.
 * Multi-role transport aircraft project with Ilyushin of Russia worth US$600 million.
 * 120 RD-33MK turbofan engines to be manufactured for MiG-29K by HAL for US$250 million.
 * Contract to manufacture 1,000 TPE331 aircraft engines for Honeywell worth US$200,000 each (estimates put total value of deal at US$200 million).
 * US$120 million deal to manufacture Dornier 228 for RUAG of Switzerland.
 * Manufacture of aircraft parts for Airbus SAS worth US$150 million.
 * US$100 million contract to export composite materials to Israel Aircraft Industries.
 * US$65 million joint-research facility with Honeywell and planned production of Garrett TPE331 engines.
 * US$50.7 million contract to supply Advanced Light Helicopter to Ecuadorian Air Force. HAL will also open a maintenance base in the country.
 * US$30 million contract to supply avionics for Malaysian Su-30MKM.
 * US$20 million contract to supply ambulance version of HAL Dhruv to Peru.
 * Contract of 3 HAL Dhruv helicopters from Turkey worth US$20 million.
 * US$10 million order from Namibia for HAL Chetak and Cheetah helicopters.
 * Supply of HAL Dhruv helicopters to Mauritius' National Police in a deal worth US$7 million.
 * Unmanned helicopter development project with Israel Aircraft Industries.

Domestic agreements

 * 180 Sukhoi Su-30MKI being manufactured at HAL's facilities in Nasik, Koraput and Bangalore. The total contract, which also involves Russia's Sukhoi Aerospace, is worth US$3.2 billion.
 * 200 HAL Light Combat Helicopters for the Indian Air Force and 500 HAL Dhruv helicopters worth US$5.83 billion.
 * US$900 million aerospace hub in Andhra Pradesh.
 * US$57 million upgrade of SEPECAT Jaguar fleet of the Indian Air Force.
 * US$55 million helicopter simulator training facility in Bangalore in collaboration with Canada's CAE.
 * 64 MiG-29s to be upgraded by HAL and Russia's MiG Corporation in a program worth US$960 million.
 * Licensed production of 82 BAe Hawk 132.

Agricultural aircraft

 * HA-31 Basant

Fighter aircraft



 * HF-24 Marut &mdash; Mk1 and Mk1T
 * Tejas &mdash; Light Combat Aircraft
 * Su-30MKI &mdash; a derivative of Sukhoi Su-27 co-developed with Sukhoi Corporation
 * FGFA &mdash; under joint-development with the Sukhoi Corporation
 * AMCA &mdash; India's indigenous stealth fighter (Under Development).

Helicopters



 * Dhruv &mdash; Advanced Light Helicopter
 * Light Combat Helicopter (Under Trials)
 * Light Observation Helicopter (under development)
 * Indian Multi-role Helicopter (under development)
 * Rudra - Attack helicopter.

Engines

 * GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri- Co-developed with GTRE(DRDO)(under development)(Program developed into following programs)
 * PTAE-7- For indegeniously designed Lakshya PTA
 * GTSU-110 - For starting main engine GE404 or Kaveri of LCA Tejas
 * HAL/Turbomeca Shakti - Co-developed with Turbomeca for HAL Dhruv Helicopter to be used in light utility helicpter

Trainer aircraft

 * HT-2 - First company design to enter production.
 * HPT-32 Deepak - Basic Trainer in service for more than three decades.
 * HJT-16 Kiran &mdash; Mk1, Mk1A and Mk2 - Turbojet trainers scheduled to be replaced with IJT like HJT-36 Sitara
 * HTT-34 - Turboprop Version of HPT-32 Deepak
 * HTT-35 - Proposed basic trainer replacement for HPT-32 in early 90s but was not pursued
 * HJT-36 Sitara &mdash; Intermediate Jet Trainer (under development) (Inducted as LSP waiting further orders)
 * HAL HTT-40 Basic Trainer (Under proposal)
 * HAL HJT 39 / CAT Advanced Jet Trainer (Under proposal)

Observation and reconnaissance aircraft

 * HAOP-27 Krishak

Transport and passenger aircraft

 * Saras &mdash; under joint development with the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL)
 * HAL Multirole Transport Aircraft &mdash; under joint-development with Ilyushin Design Bureau
 * Indian Regional Jet (IRJ) of 70-100 seater capacity to be jointly developed with NAL.

Utility aircraft

 * HUL-26 Pushpak

Gliders

 * HAL G-1 &mdash; HAL's first original design, dating from 1941. Only one was built.
 * Ardhra &mdash; training glider
 * Rohini

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

 * Lakshya PTA &mdash; UAV
 * NRUAV
 * Rustom I &mdash; Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Licenced production

 * Harlow PC-5 &mdash; first aircraft assembled by HAL
 * Percival Prentice &mdash; 66 built by HAL
 * Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 &mdash; FL, M, Bis and Bison upgrades variants
 * Folland Gnat
 * HAL Ajeet &mdash; improved version of the Folland Gnat
 * Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27 &mdash; M variant
 * SEPECAT Jaguar&mdash; IS, IB and IM variants
 * BAE Hawk &mdash; scheduled production run of 42 aircraft
 * Sukhoi Su-30 &mdash; MKI variant
 * Dornier Do 228 &mdash; 117 built + fuselage, wings and tail unit for production of the upgraded Do 228 NG variant
 * Aerospatiale SA 315B Lama &mdash; HAL Cheetah, Lancer, Cheetal Variants
 * Aerospatiale SA 316B Alouette III &mdash; HAL Chetak, Chetan Variants
 * HAL HS 748 Avro &mdash; Modified for military usage, includes Series 2M variant with large freight door
 * Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour Mk 811 &mdash; Engine for SEPECAT Jaguar
 * Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour Mk 871 &mdash; Engine for BAE Hawk Mk 132
 * Garrett TPE331-5 &mdash; Engine for Dornier Do 228
 * Turbomeca TM 333 &mdash; Engine for HAL Dhruv