HAL asks BAE Systems to cough up $10.5 million in damages

New Delhi: Indian state-owned aerospace giant, the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd's (HAL) extreme displeasure at the shoddy treatment meted out by British aerospace and defence giant BAE Systems to it in the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) aircraft contract would appear to have finally been taken cognisance of by India's ministry of defence (MoD). It would now appear that BAE Systems may have been asked to pay up around $10.5 million to cover costs incurred by HAL in retooling and redesigning equipment in order to be able to assemble the Hawk AJT's here in India.

Under a contract signed in 2004, 42 of these single-engine aircraft were to be assembled by HAL and 24 to be directly delivered by BAE. HAL had filed a complaint with the MoD that tools and equipment supplied by BAE Systems had to be ''reworked.'' HAL was forced to ''re-tool and re-design'' many of the equipment supplied by BAE and there were issues with spare parts too which created bedevilled the entire programme.

HAL sources have said that they faced innumerable problems throughout the entire programme and this delayed assembly of the aircraft.

Now, because of the trouble that HAL was forced to undergo, the organisation has asked BAE to pay it around $10.5 million. 

Sources said negotiations were currently under way between BAE Systems and HAL.

BAE Systems will lose out on a little bit more than $10.5 million for in a move that expresses strong disapproval with this multi-national defence contractor, the Indian Air Force has issued a fresh tender for a new batch of 57 advanced jet trainers. Originally, these were also to be bought from BAE Systems.