Jan. 26, 2017 / 1:34 PM

HAL upgrades Hawk trainer with Indian-designed equipment

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has conducted an equipment upgrade in a Hawk MK132 trainer using locally designed and developed equipment.

An Indian upgraded Hawk MK132 jet trainer. Photo courtesy Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

An Indian upgraded Hawk MK132 jet trainer. Photo courtesy Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

Jan. 26 (UPI) -- HAL of India has performed its first upgrade of a Hawk jet trainer, swapping out imported mission computer and data transfer units with its own equipment.

The upgraded Hawk MK132, designated the Hawk-i, is to be shown at an upcoming aerospace exhibition in India and will perform a number of aerial displays.

"This is the 100th Hawk aircraft produced at HAL ...," T. Suvarna Raju, chairman and managing director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited said in a news release. "HAL had conceived a program for indigenous upgradation of the Hawk Mk132 for achieving self-reliance and has successfully accomplished it."

The Hawk MK132 is manufactured in India under license from BAE Systems.

HAL said the HAL-developed mission computer on the aircraft is in a dual redundant configuration and has additional capabilities, such as digital map generation.

The Hawk-i also provides secured voice communication and data link capability by integration of Softnet Radio.

Its Embedded Virtual Training System offers improved training capability over the existing system, HAL said.

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