by Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch

The Pilatus aircraft manufacturer has confirmed a deal to export 75 PC-7 MkII military training aircraft to India worth $523 million (SFr500 million) – the biggest-ever contract for the turboprop trainer in the Stans-based firm’s history.

The company also confirmed on Thursday that it is in the final stages of a major contract with Saudi Arabia for 55 PC-21 propeller-driven trainers via a deal with the British defence contractor BAE Systems PLC (see freeform).

The India deal, which also includes an integrated ground-based training system and logistics support, matches the firm’s previous largest sale of 25 PC-21 planes sold to the United Arab Emirates in November 2009 for SFr500 million.

Deliveries should begin at the end of 2012 and the contract provides for a possible additional 30 PC-7s.

Pilatus, which had a record turnover of SFr781 million in 2011 – up 14 per cent on 2010 – and employs 1,441 people (1,302 at Stans), has so far sold 900 PC-7s to 30 air forces around the world.

The manufacturer beat off rivals like the American Beechcraft T-6C Texan II and the South Korean KT-1, which were also on the final shortlist after a two-year bidding process.

India is the world’s largest weapons importer and is currently spending billions of dollars on fighter jets and aircraft carriers to modernise its air force and navy, and gain international clout.

Defence specialists view the Pilatus plane deal as filling a massive capability gap in the training programme of the Indian Air Force, the fourth largest in the world with 170,000 personnel and 1,500 aircraft operating from over 60 bases. It purportedly requires some 200 trainer planes.

India was forced to look for new basic training aircraft after its fleet of Hindustan Aeronautics-built HPT-32 Deepak training planes were grounded from July 2009 onwards following 17 crashes.

read more here:

Some 30 air forces around the world use the PC-7 for training purposes (Pilatus Aircraft Ltd)