BAe Hawk Jet Trainers to be Operational by September 2007

BAe Hawk Jet Trainers to be Operational by September 2007
The acquisition of 24 advanced jet trainers (AJT) from Britain is likely to begin by July and the aircraft are expected to start flying operations from September, the IAF chief said today.
These aircraft will be part of the total of 66 AJTs that the IAF is going to acquire, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi told reporters on the sidelines of a function organised to phase out the MiG-23MF jets after their last ceremonial flight here.
The acquisition of AJTs has been under consideration for the past two decades. These are small agile aircraft capable of flying at trans-sonic speed and can be of great help in imparting training in air combat techniques and air-to-ground weapon delivery.
The IAF's target is to modernise technology and improve its prowess regularly to ensure peace and stability, which are important for economic growth, Tyagi said.
Noting that the IAF plays a vital role in defence, Tyagi said the aim is not to go to war but to avert war by having a strong defence.
He said historically, the basic threat has come from neighbours like Pakistan and China. "Though India is trying to better its ties with these two countries, peace can exist only when the country is strong enough to counter any threat," he pointed out.
To a question on suicides in the armed forces, Tyagi said statistically there has been no change in the suicide rate. It is only that there is more awareness about such cases among the people now because of the media, he said.
Most suicides were because of domestic stress rather than any official reasons, Tyagi said, adding that the defence minister had written to chief ministers to ask them to ensure that the problems of defence personnel were taken care of to prevent stress.
About the phasing out of the IAF's MiG-23 aircraft, Tyagi said these fighters needed to be phased out as maintaining them had become a problem because of difficulty in procuring spare parts and mounting costs.
He said eventually other MiG variants will also be phased out.
About crashes involving fighter aircraft, Tyagi said there is a "wrong" notion among people that the rate of crashes in the IAF is high.
"On the contrary, it (the number of crashes) has declined. It is only that the awareness among people has increased because of a spurt in the media, especially television channels," he said.