NEW DELHI: To modernise its aircraft fleet that will train its future pilots, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has taken the first step for acquisition of next-generation jet trainers by floating a tender for 150 such aircraft.The new trainers, once acquired, will replace IAF’s aging Hawk Mk-132 advanced jet trainers, which is considered to be one of the largest trainer procurement drives of the decade.The IAF has floated a Request for Information (RFI) for “trainer aircraft for Stage-III (F) and associated equipment” and issued it to Indian and global manufacturers, with responses due by Oct 5. Trials will be conducted in India on a no-cost-no-commitment basis.

RFI is the very first step to gather information about capabilities of potential suppliers and explore market options before going for the acquisition process.The Stage-III (F) trainers will be the final link in the training chain before pilots move to operational fighter squadrons. They will have to familiarise rookie pilots with airborne radars, electronic warfare systems and beyond-visual-range missiles before they graduate to frontline fighters such as the Rafale and Tejas and eventually the future Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

The new acquisition aims to overhaul the service’s pilot training pipeline, bridging the steep operational leap between basic turboprop trainers and high-performance 4.5 and 5th-generation combat jets.Besides India’s HAL HLFT-42, which is India’s indigenous supersonic Lead-In Fighter Trainer under development, likely foreign contenders could be Leonardo M-346 Master (Italy), KAI /Lockheed Martin T-50 Golden Eagle (South Korea); Yakovlev Yak-130 (Russia) and Boeing / Saab T-7A Red Hawk (USA).The request for proposal is tentatively scheduled for Dec 2027, with deliveries to be completed within 60 months of the effective date of the contract.