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Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Tuesday
strengthened its position as a leading aerospace export house when
it handed over the first rear fuselage for the Gulfstream (G-150)
aircraft to Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).
HAL Chairman Mr Ashok Nayak handed over the documents of the
HAL-built Aft (rear) fuselage for G-150 to Mr Shlomi Karako, General
Manager, Business Jets Division, IAI, at a simple function at HAL’s
Aircraft Division in Bangalore. Gulfstream (G-150) is a business
executive aircraft built in Israel and transported to the United
States for further furnishing. The G-150 is marketed the world over
by the US-based Gulfstream Corporation.
Ready for more challenges, says Nayak: The Aircraft Division has
made a mark on the international export map over the years by
supplying several types of door assemblies to Boeing, Airbus and
other global firms. “With the G-150 fuselage delivery HAL has now
entered a fairly advanced manufacturing level of building major
structural assemblies for global players in the civil sector. The
G-150 project augurs well not only for HAL, but also for the
national objective of producing a civil aircraft of international
standards,” Mr Ashok Nayak said.
He also attributed the success of the project to the involvement of
the private sector and expressed hope that the Company would bag
more orders in the future. “The G-150 programme has given us huge
confidence in taking up bigger challenges. We are now looking
forward to the G-250 programme and we have made our strong presence
felt in the bidding process. HAL-IAI has a time-tested partnership
and we are here to capitalize on the vast potential in the business
jet market,” Mr Nayak added.
Quality at its best, says Israel: HAL’s ability to deliver the G-150
fuselage on time came in for praise from the strong contingent of
IAI officials. “To us, this is a champion product. We have seen
closely HAL’s capabilities in handling new technologies and new IT
processes. For us the Gulfstream fuselage is a perfect example of
synergy and quality,” Mr Shlomi Karako of IAI said.
About the project: The IAI approached HAL with a request for
quotation (RFQ) for building the fuselage in December 2006, since
they required a partner to build the fuselage from digital data for
the first time. (This process was against the legacy of paper
drawings from which hundreds of aircraft were built in Israel.) The
contract for producing 200 ship-sets of G-150 fuselages was signed
in 2007, and a dedicated state-of-the-art hangar came up in
Bangalore within nine months.
The programme also saw significant and close collaborative efforts
between HAL and IAI in realizing the hardware through web-based
design data transfer. It also brought together the Directorate of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI).
HAL has a seven-year schedule to deliver 200 fuselage ship-sets to
Israel. |
