Ajeet

The HAL Ajeet was a development of the British Folland Gnat fighter that was built under licence in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The Indian Air Force (IAF) issued a requirement for a Gnat Mk 2 in 1972. Although the original requirement called for an interceptor, it was later modified to include a secondary ground-attack role. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) modified two Gnats to act as test-bed aircraft for subsystems; these first ... more

The HAL Ajeet was a development of the British Folland Gnat fighter that was built under licence in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The Indian Air Force (IAF) issued a requirement for a Gnat Mk 2 in 1972. Although the original requirement called for an interceptor, it was later modified to include a secondary ground-attack role. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) modified two Gnats to act as test-bed aircraft for subsystems; these first flew in 1975, followed by the first flight of production aircraft on the 30th of September 1976. The aircraft was given the name "Ajeet", Sanskrit for "Invincible" or "Unconquered". The changes from the original Gnat were considerable. They included: Visually, the Ajeet appeared similar to the Gnat, with the presence of two extra hardpoints being the only obvious distinguishing features from the older aircraft. The Ajeet entered service with the IAF in 1977 and was retired in 1991. It never saw combat. A HAL project for a trainer based on the... less