India issues RFI for new jet trainer aircraft

The Indian Air Force has operated BAE Systems Hawk Mk 132 advanced jet trainers from 2008. (BAE Systems)

The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued a request for information (RFI) for a proposed acquisition of about 150 jet trainer aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Issued earlier in August, the RFI details a requirement for a ‘Stage III' jet trainer aircraft to prepare newly trained pilots for conversion to operational platforms.

The RFI invites responses from domestic and international original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and vendors by 5 October 2026. A request for proposal (RFP) is tentatively expected in December 2027, with deliveries to be completed within 60 months of the contract becoming effective.

According to the RFI, the subsequent procurement is expected to follow a ‘single-stage, two-bid system', with commercial offers remaining valid for at least 18 months from the submission date.

The aircraft will be used to train IAF pilots for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions in a network-centric environment. It must be capable of carrying an internal or podded gun and unguided air-to-ground weapons.

The aircraft must be capable of entering high-alpha, low-speed flight and automatically recovering to controlled flight without pilot input. A night-combat capability is also required.

The RFI also outlines a requirement for a glass cockpit with a touchscreen-enabled large-area display (LAD), a configurable hands-on throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) system, full-authority digital engine control (FADEC), and a software-defined radio (SDR)-enabled communications system.

To mitigate future obsolescence, the RFI said the aircraft must have an “adequate capacity” for upgrades, including support for bus loading protocols to enable avionics updates and mission-system enhancements. The RFI also requires the “seamless modification” or “upgrade of software and hardware from different sources other than the OEM”.