The Indian Air Force has turned down the British Advanced Hawk trainer/attack aircraft as its new attack aircraft, a decision that appears final.  Indian media earlier reported the IAF had done so.

The decision came after the Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced it will not make an acquisition request for the Advanced Hawk after allegations that Rolls-Royce Holdings plc, the world's second largest maker of aircraft engines, bribed officials of state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) between 2005 and 2009 to secure orders for engines of the British Hawk 132 advanced jet trainers.

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In November 2016, an internal MoD report established that Rolls-Royce paid bribes to secure orders for Adour Mk aero engines for the Hawk advanced jet trainer being produced by HAL under license from BAE Systems.

In January, a British court learned that Rolls-Royce allegedly used middlemen to help it secure deals in India for engine production for the Hawk trainer between 2005 and 2009. Indian law forbids the use of middlemen to secure defense deals.

"We will not make any formal request for the Advanced Hawk to HAL, and the program will be officially shelved," said a senior IAF officer not named by Indian media.

"This is because the MoD does not want (to) give additional orders for engines to tainted Rolls-Royce for the Advanced Hawk program. IAF has no intentions to place any order for the Advanced Hawk trainers."

The absence of any orders for Advanced Hawk trainers to be supplied by BAE Systems of the United Kingdom will make it difficult for the commercial agreement with HAL to proceed further. BAE Systems and HAL signed a memorandum of understanding in 2015 to fund the development and production of a combat role-capable trainer to be marketed in India and the export market. 

Advanced Hawk made its public debut at Aero India 2017 in Bangalore earlier this month. It was developed over the past two years with HAL and BAE Systems pooling resources to develop a faster, more agile Hawk that can also carry smart weapons. 

Faced with the indifferent attitude of both the IAF and the IN, both BAE Systems and HAL seem to have gone ahead with developing the Advanced Hawk as an inexpensive aircraft targeted at countries on the Asian mainland.

BAE said Advanced Hawk can carry 3,000 kilograms of weapons, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, laser designation pods and precision-guided munitions.

Among the innovations in Advanced Hawk are slatted wings that produce a significant increase in the plane's performance, including shorter take-offs and landings, and agility.

Hawk is a British-made, single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft first flown in 1974.

TagsIndian Air Force, Advanced Hawk trainer/attack aircraft, Ministry of Defense, Rolls-Royce Holdings plc, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, BAE Systems