SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) proposed Hindustan Lead-in Fighter Trainer (HLFT-42) aircraft will come equipped with AESA Radar and weapons that can be used as a light fighter trainer fully combat capable but also will be highly customizable for an export-oriented market where it will be scalable, interoperable and configurable as per customers requirements.
Switching to a metal airframe means it is durable, light, and relatively inexpensive but ditching composites (mostly carbon-epoxy) has added advantages since it will reduce airframe cost by over 30% and aircraft can be priced competitively in the International market.
While HAL has still not revealed at what price point it wants to offer this aircraft but target price point to stay relevant in this market segment could mean that the bare flyaway unit cost of the aircraft will hover around $20 million which is for the baseline configuration since aircraft can be configured with more advance features so will the price of the aircraft rise.
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