HAL to develop 60 tonne aircraft with Russian collaboration

Bangalore, Dec 27 (UNI) Negotiations are underway between defence aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and the Irkut Aircraft Corporation of Russia for joint development of a 60 tonne multirole transport aircraft.

The aircraft initiallly would be developed as a 15 to 20 tonne freighter for which there was a huge demand by the Armed forces, HAL Chairman Ashok K Baweja told newspersons here today. The project would entail an investment of 600 to 700 million US dollars and it would be shared equally by the two companies, he said adding that at a later stage the aircraft could be converted into a passenger aircraft.

He said HAL would also under Russian collaboration take up development of a ten tonne helicopter that would be productionised beyond the 2013 framework.

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