Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
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| Hindustan Aeronautics Limited | |
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| Type | Public (BSE) |
| Founded | 1940 (in 1964, company took on current name), Bangalore |
| Headquarters |  Bangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Key people | Ashok. K.Baweja (Chairman) Fakruddin Mohammad (Director) D.Shivmurti (Director-Finance) |
| Industry | Aerospace and defense |
| Products | Aerospace equipment Military aircraft Communication & Navigation equipment Space systems |
| Revenue | INR 83.5 billion (US$ 2.1 B) (FY 2007) |
| Employees | 30,000 |
| Website | www.hal-india.com |
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), based in Bangalore, India, is one of Asia's largest aerospace companies. Under the management of the Ministry of Defence, the 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, helicopters and their components and spares. It has several facilities throughout India including Nasik, Korwa, Kanpur, Koraput, Lucknow, 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 the Sukhoi Aviation Corporation, Israel Aircraft Industries, Mikoyan-Gurevich (now Mikoyan), BAE Systems, Dassault Aviation, Dornier Flugzeugwerke, Aeronautical Development Agency and Indian Space Research Organisation.
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[edit] History
HAL was established as Hindustan Aircraft in Bangalore in 1940 by Walchand Hirachand to produce military aircraft for the Royal Air Force. The initiative was actively encouraged by the Kingdom of Mysore, especially by the Diwan, Sir Mirza Ismail. The British Government bought a one-third stake in the company by April 1941 as it believed this to be a strategic imperative. Later in April 1942, it bought out the stakes of Walchand Hirachand himself and other promoters so that it can act freely. The decision by United Kingdom was primairly motivated to boost British military hardware supplies in Asia to counter the increasing threat posed by Imperial Japan during Second World War. However, the Mysore Kingdom refused to sell its stake in the company but yielded the management control over to the British Government. Thus, within 2 years of establishment, it was nationalized.
After India gained independence in 1947, the management of the company was passed over to the Government of India and was renamed as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). 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. During the 1980s, HAL's operations saw a rapid increase which resulted in the development of new indigenous aircraft such as 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.
[edit] Operations
HAL is one of the largest aerospace companies in Asia with its annual turnover to be running above US$2 billion. Below is a partial list of major operations being undertaken by HAL:
- 140+ Sukhoi Su-30MKI being manufactured at HAL's facilities in Nasik and Bangalore. The total contract is worth US$3.2 billion.
- 159 HAL Light Combat Helicopters for Indian Air Force and 150+ HAL Dhruv helicopters worth US$5.83 billion.[1]
- 120 RD-33K turbojet engines to be manufactured by HAL for US$250 million.[2]
- 64 MiG-29s to be upgraded by HAL in program worth US$960 million.[3]
- Licensed production of 42 BAe Hawk 132.[4]
- Multi-role transport aircraft project with Ilyushin of Russia worth US$600 million.[5]
- Unmanned helicopter development project with Israel Aircraft Industries.[6]
- Manufacture of aircraft parts for Airbus Industries worth US$150 million.[7]
- US$55 million fighter training school in Bangalore in collaboration with Canada's CAE.[8]
[edit] In-house developed products
[edit] Light trainer aircraft:
- HT-2
- HPT-32 Deepak
- HUL-26 Pushpak
- HAOP-27 Krishak
- HA-31 Basant
- HJT-16 Kiran — Mk1, Mk1A and Mk2
- HJT-36 Sitara — Intermediate Jet Trainer (In development)
[edit] Fighter aircraft
- HF-24 Marut — Mk1 and Mk1T
- Tejas — Light Combat Aircraft
- Medium Combat Aircraft — 5th generation stealth strike aircraft (in initial stages)
[edit] Transport aircraft
- Saras — Co-developed with the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL)
- Indo-Russian Tactical Transport Aircraft
[edit] Helicopters
- Dhruv — Advanced Light Helicopter
- Light Combat Helicopter (under development)
- Light Observation Helicopter (under development)
[edit] Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- Lakshya PTA — Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
[edit] Licensed production
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 — FL,M,Bis,Bison Upgrades variants
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27 — M variant
- SEPECAT Jaguar— IS,IB,IM variants
- HAL Ajeet — Improved version of the Folland Gnat
- Aerospatiale Alouette III — HAL Chetak, Chetan Variants
- SA 315 Lama — HAL Cheetah, Lancer, Cheetal Variants
- Dornier Do 228
- HAL HS 748 Avro
- Sukhoi Su-30MKI
- BAe Systems Hawk Mk 132 Advanced Jet Trainer: Scheduled production of 42 aircraft
[edit] Gallery
 HAL developed and manufactured Dhruv |
 HAL license manufactured MiG-27 |
 HAL license manufactured Jaguar IS |
 HAL overhauled Mirage 2000 |
[edit] See also
- DRDO
- HAL Airport
- Indian Air Force
- Indian Space Research Organisation
- Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company
[edit] References
- ^ [1]
- ^ Aviation Week : India Signs Contract For $964M MiG-29 Upgrade
- ^ AFP: India awards Russia billion dollar MiG-29 upgrade
- ^ [2]
- ^ domain-b.com : Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Ilyushin start work on multi-role transport aircraft
- ^ 'India, Israel developing unmanned helicopter' -Gulf-World-The Times of India
- ^ The Hindu : National : HAL bags $150-million Airbus order
- ^ Hindustan Aeronautics to set up pilot training school-India Business-Business-The Times of India
[edit] External links
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