New Delhi, June 22
Come July and the Indian Air Force (IAF) will embark on a path-breaking experiment to shape its trainee pilots in a foreign land for the coming four years.
As a part of the £ 795 million contract for Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs), signed with the British Government and the BAE Systems, manufacturers of Hawks, IAF trainee pilots will be sent to the Royal Air Force Valley from July to be a part of rigours and challenge which UK pilots have been facing for years.
The training of IAF pilots will be the first step of the contract and also the most critical part as the IAF goes about improving its accident rate which has claimed the lives of over a 100 of India’s finest pilots.
The complex at the Valley, where RAF trains its fighter pilots, has almost been a secret on the western coast of the Isle of Anglesey for the past 25 years. RAF spends almost a million pound on training that converts boys into fighter pilots on super-sonic flying machines.
According to reports here, at the RAF Valley, a dedicated building is getting ready to house IAF trainees. RAF officers will also be ready with the new curriculum for the first batch of trainee pilots, whose course begins on July 5.
The first lot would have learnt initial stages of flying in India, having completed training on the slow moving Kirans, and a bit about tactical weapons while flying. But now they will learn to fly on the Hawk, world’s most produced advanced jet trainer, which also has an impressive safety record.
This will be the procedure till 2008, when the Hawks are fully integrated into the IAF training.
Reports here said that the Hawk Interim Indian Flying Training would comprise eight weeks of theory and simulators, 20 weeks of advanced flying training, three weeks of tactical weapons simulations and 14 weeks of live tactical weapons training.
There will be four courses a year and each course will have six Indian pilots. The IAF trainees are going to be trained with wide application of cutting edge technology that will be integrated to their learning courses. A special syllabus has been created on the basis of the training being imparted by the IAF here.
To monitor the training and improvements required, if any, the IAF is also deputing a Squadron Leader to the valley. Air Chief Marshal
S. Krishnaswamy is expected to visit the Valley on June 30 for an update and briefing.
Incidentally, this is the largest number of officers and the longest period of training ever done by RAF for a foreign nation.
The Indian pilots will be taught air defence, air combat, intercepts, low level evasion, simulated attack and other offensive and defensive maneuvers, besides live firing using three-kg bombs and 30-mm cannons at the firing range.
All sorties they do will also have a written assessment, which will help the IAF decide if the trainee can be allotted to flying single seat or double-seat fighters in future.
