Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

Infobox Company
company_name = Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
company_
company_type = Public (PSE)
company_slogan = "Asia's Premier Aerospace Complex"
foundation = 1940 (in 1964, company took on current name), Bangalore
location = flagicon|IND Bangalore, Karnataka, India
key_people = Ashok. K.Baweja (Chairman)
Fakruddin Mohammad (Director) D.Shivmurti (Director-Finance)
num_employees = 30,000
industry = Aerospace and defense
products = Aerospace equipment
Military aircraft
Communication & Navigation equipment
Space systems
revenue = US$2.35 billion (FY 2007)
homepage = [http://www.hal-india.com/ 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 Airbus Industries, Boeing, Sukhoi Aviation Corporation, Israel Aircraft Industries, Mikoyan-Gurevich (now Mikoyan), BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce plc, Dassault Aviation, Dornier Flugzeugwerke, Aeronautical Development Agency and Indian Space Research Organisation.

History

HAL was established as Hindustan Aircraft in Bangalore in 1940 by 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. 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.

In 1943 the Bangalore factory was handed over to the United States Army Air Force but still using HAL 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 PBY Catalina followed by every type of aircraft operated in Indian 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.

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. HAL has also obtained several multi-million dollar contracts from leading international aerospace firms such as Airbus and Boeing to manufacture aircraft spare parts.

Operations

HAL is one of the largest aerospace companies in Asia with its annual turnover to be running above US$2 billion. More than 40% of HAL's revenues come from international deals to manufacture aircraft engines, spare parts, and other aircraft materials. Below is a partial list of major operations being undertaken by HAL:

International deals

*US$1 billion contract to manufacture aircraft parts for Boeing. [ [http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/aerospace/story/235403.html Boeing to export up to $1 billion in work to India | TheNewsTribune.com | Tacoma, WA ] ]
*Multi-role transport aircraft project with Ilyushin of Russia worth US$600 million. [ [http://www.domain-b.com/aero/mil_avi/mil_aircraft/20080404_aircraft.html domain-b.com : Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Ilyushin start work on multi-role transport aircraft ] ]
*120 RD-33MK turbojet engines to be manufactured for MiG-29K by HAL for US$250 million. [ [http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/MIG031008.xml&headline=India%20Signs%20Contract%20For%20$964M%20MiG-29%20Upgrade Aviation Week : India Signs Contract For $964M MiG-29 Upgrade ] ]
*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). [ [http://www.financialexpress.com/news/HAL-to-make-1-000-Honeywell-engines/316373/ HAL to make 1,000 Honeywell engines - The Financial Express ] ]
*US$120 million deal to manufacture Dornier 228 for Ruag Aerospace Company of Switzerland. [ [http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=10&bKey
] ]
*Manufacture of aircraft parts for Airbus Industries worth US$150 million. [ [http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/19/stories/2008031953481400.htm The Hindu : National : HAL bags $150-million Airbus order ] ]
*US$100 million contract to export composite materials to Israel Aircraft Industries. [ [http://www.israelenews.com/view.asp?ID=2282 Israel News : Israel outsources $100-mn composites for UAVs to India ] ]
*US$50.7 million contract to supply Advanced Light Helicopter to Ecuadorian Air Force. [ [http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/06/26/afx5156692.html Hindustan Aeronautics gets $50.7 mln helicopter contract from Ecuador air force - Forbes.com ] ] HAL will also open a maintenance base in the country. [http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Airlines__Aviation/HAL_to_have_maintenance_base_in_Ecuador/articleshow/3454528.cms]
*US$30 million contract to supply avionics for Malaysian Su-30MKM. [ [http://www.tajanews.com/noqnews/nnqview.php?ArtID=2044 TajaNews ] ]
*US$20 million contract to supply ambulance version of HAL Dhruv to Peru. [ [http://www.domain-b.com/aero/aero_mfg/20080624_ambulance.html domain-b.com : HAL secures order for ambulance version of ALH Dhruv from Peru ] ]
*Contract of 3 HAL Dhruv helicopters to Turkey in a deal worth US$20 million. [http://www.domain-b.com/aero/aero_mfg/20080812_dhruv_helicopters.html]
*Unmanned helicopter development project with Israel Aircraft Industries. [ [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/India_Israel_developing_unmanned_helicopter_/articleshow/2918496.cms 'India, Israel developing unmanned helicopter' -Gulf-World-The Times of India ] ]

Domestic deals

*180 Sukhoi Su-30MKI being manufactured at HAL's facilities in Nasik and Bangalore. The total contract, which also involves Russia's Sukhoi Aerospace, is worth US$3.2 billion.
*200 HAL Light Combat Helicopters for Indian Air Force and 500 HAL Dhruv helicopters worth US$5.83 billion. [http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-24232124.htm] ]
*US$57 million upgrade of SEPECAT Jaguar fleet of the Indian Air Force. [ [http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/07/24/226033/hal-to-upgrade-indian-jaguar-fleet.html HAL to upgrade Indian Jaguar fleet ] ]
*US$55 million fighter training school in Bangalore in collaboration with Canada's CAE. [ [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2285122,prtpage-1.cms Hindustan Aeronautics to set up pilot training school-India Business-Business-The Times of India ] ]
*64 MiG-29s to be upgraded by HAL and Russia's MiG Corporation in a program worth US$960 million. [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iZwSj5dENm0muACD9s1RGFhQ1Rqw AFP: India awards Russia billion dollar MiG-29 upgrade ] ]
*Licensed production of 82 BAe Hawk 132.

In-house developed products

Glider

* HAL G-1 - first original design produced by the company in 1941, only one built.
* Ardhra training glider

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)

Fighter aircraft

* HF-24 Marut — Mk1 and Mk1T
* Tejas — Light Combat Aircraft
* Medium Combat Aircraft — 5th generation stealth strike aircraft (in initial stages)

Transport aircraft

* Saras — Co-developed with the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL)
* HAL Multirole Transport Aircraft — in joint development with Ilyushin Design Bureau.

Helicopters

* Dhruv — Advanced Light Helicopter
* Light Combat Helicopter (under development)
* Light Observation Helicopter (under development)
* Medium Lift Helicopter

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

* Lakshya PTA — Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Licensed production

* Harlow PC-5 first aircraft assembled by HAL
* Percival Prentice 66-built
* 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 SA 315B Lama — HAL Cheetah, Lancer, Cheetal Variants
* Aerospatiale SA 316B Alouette III — HAL Chetak, Chetan Variants
* Dornier Do 228
* HAL HS 748 Avro
* Sukhoi Su-30MKI
* BAe Systems Hawk Mk 132 Advanced Jet Trainer: Scheduled production of 42 aircraft

Gallery

ee also

* DRDO
* HAL Airport
* Indian Air Force
* Indian Space Research Organisation
* Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company
* Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC

References

External links

* [http://www.hal-india.com/ Official web site]
* [http://www.helis.com/database/go/hindustan_aeronautics_ltd_hal__chetak.php helis.com Chetak page]