page_title: HAL HJT-16 Kiran
section_title: Operational history
hierarchical_section_title: HAL HJT-16 Kiran / Operational history
caption_attribution_description: Indian Airforce Aerobatic Team during LIMA 07
context_page_description: The HAL HJT-16 Kiran is an Indian two-seat intermediate jet-powered trainer aircraft designed and manufactured by aircraft company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
  The Kiran was developed at the behest of the Indian Air Force, who sought a new intermediate trainer aircraft for its pilots. On 4 September 1964, the type performed its maiden flight; mass production commenced shortly thereafter. It has been adopted by the IAF, which uses the type to conduct intermediate training of pilots following on from basic trainers such as the HPT-32 Deepak and Pilatus PC-7. Furthermore, during the 1980s, the IAF procured a number of Kirans that were furnished with a more powerful engine and a higher number of hard points; the variant was designated Kiran Mk II. It has also been adopted by the Indian Naval Air Arm. The last Kiran was completed during 1989, after which the assembly line was shuttered.
  The Kiran has been in operational use for over 50 years. Since the late 1990s, an indigenously designed successor, the HAL HJT-36 Sitara, has been in development, but has yet to enter service as of 2019.
context_section_description: Since the initial aircraft first being delivered in 1968, the Kiran has been operated by both the IAF and the Indian Navy for the intermediate elements of their training syllabuses. Since the late 1990s, HAL has been working on developing a successor to the Kiran, which has been designated HJT-36 Sitara. Its development has been protracted, being troubled by accidents during the test flight phase and having to perform an extensive redesign. Another jet trainer, the British-designed BAE Systems Hawk, has been license-manufactured by HAL to supplement and graducally replace the IAF's aging Kiran fleet since 2007. While deliveries of the Hawk and development of the Sitara continues, the operating life of the Kiran has been extended through to 2019, over 50 years after the first examples being delivered to the IAF.
  Following the grounding of the HAL HPT-32 Deepak fleet in 2009 amid safety concerns, the Kiran was temporarily used to perform both Stage I & II of fighter pilot training; this change was accompanied by considerable disruption, including a reduction of available flying hours to students as well as necessitating the redistribution of aircraft from the Surya Kiran display team. During 2010, an urgent request for proposals was issued, seeking a rapid replacement for the HPT-32 and to enable the Kiran fleet to resume normal operations; the Pilatus PC-7 was subsequently selected for this role.
  Both the Indian Naval Air Arm and the Indian Air Force have independently operated their own aerobatic display teams, Sagar Pawan and Surya Kiran respectively. On 3 March 2010, a Kiran Mk II of the Sagar Pawan aerobatic team crashed into a building in Hyderabad during the Indian Aviation 2010 air show, killing both crewmembers and injuring four civilians on the ground. During the 2010s, the Indian Defence Ministry placed an order for 20 Hawk Mk132 aircraft with HAL to replace the remaining Kirans assigned to the Surya Kiran display team. By 2019, several Hawks had been issued to the Surya Kiran display team and had been used to perform its trademark aerial displays.
  During December 2018, India donated six Kirans to neighbouring Myanmar, these aircraft were dispatched along with a team of specialists to train both pilots and ground crew in their operation. Publication Times Now has speculated that this gift was an intentional politically-charged decision, intended to strengthen military ties between the two countries as well as to a means to counterbalancing the growing influence of China over the region.
caption: Aircraft of the Surya Kiran display team in formation flight during LIMA 2007
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2007:12:09 09:29:49", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "228", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1054", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3816", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:12:07 11:13:26", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:12:07 11:13:26", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "326559/32768", "EXIF ApertureValue": "46331/8192", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "70", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "640", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "451", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "928", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1248000/437", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "832000/291", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}