HAL removes Hanuman image on aircraft at Aero India

The image with a slogan "The storm is coming" could be seen on the first day of Asia's largest air show, which took off on Monday, on the vertical fin of the HLFT-42 at a static display.

The tail of HAL's fighter aircraft with a portrait of Lord Hanuman in a pose striking with his mace with a message, 'The storm is coming' displayed during the inauguration of Aero India 2023, at Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. (PTI Photo)

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The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on Tuesday removed the picture of Lord Hanuman from ‘Hindustan Lead in Fighter Trainer (HLFT)-42, which was on display at the Aero India 2023 here.

The image with a slogan “The storm is coming” could be seen on the first day of Asia’s largest air show, which took off on Monday, on the vertical fin of the HLFT-42 at a static display.

“There used to be an HAL aircraft called HF-24 Marut (meaning wind). It was derived from it. There is nothing specific to derive from it (image of Lord Hanuman),” an official of the Bengaluru-headquartered HAL said.

He added that the objective was to show the power of the aircraft.

The HAL displayed for the first time the scale model HLFT-42, at the Aero India.

HLFT-42 is the ‘Next Gen Supersonic Trainer’ that will play a “critical role” in modern combat aircraft training with state-of-the-art avionics like Active Electronically Scanned Array, Electronic Warfare Suite, Infrared Search and Track with Fly by Wire control system, HAL said last week.

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