India Today ·
HAL to hand over Tejas trainers, HTT-40 aircraft to IAF on September 18
HAL will hand over Tejas FOC twin-seater trainers and HTT-40 aircraft to the IAF, and Dhruv NG helicopters to Pawan Hans in Bengaluru on Thursday. The event is set to underline India's push for indigenous aerospace manufacturing across military and civil platforms.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will hand over Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Final Operational Clearance (FOC) twin-seater trainers and HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF), and Dhruv Next Generation (NG) helicopters to Pawan Hans Limited (PHL), in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu in Bengaluru on September 18, 2026.
The handover will mark an important milestone in the country's self-reliance journey and highlight the role played by HAL and its industry partners in strengthening the domestic aerospace ecosystem.
The event will also demonstrate the industry's expanding capability to design, develop and manufacture advanced platforms for both civil and military applications.
Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Samir Kumar Sinha, HAL Chairman and Managing Director Ravi K, and other senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Civil Aviation, IAF, PHL, regulatory agencies and stakeholders from the aerospace and defence sectors will be present at the event.
The government has accorded high priority to promoting indigenous design, development and manufacturing in the aerospace and defence sectors. The induction of these platforms is another step towards strengthening indigenous capabilities and reducing dependence on foreign sources.