After courting controversy earlier, a picture of Lord Hanuman is back on the tail of a Hindustan Lead in Fighter Trainer (HLFT)-42 on the final day of Aero India 2023 in Bengaluru. News agency ANI shared images of the HLFT-42 full-scale model of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) displaying the Hindu god again, three days after it was removed.
Lord Hanuman was pictured with his mace and a caption that read, ‘the storm is coming’. News agency PTI quoted an HAL official, on condition of anonymity, who said that ‘orders were carried out as received’.
The static display aircraft model was exhibited at the HAL's Hall-3 during the five-day air show, which began on Monday. After pictures of the ‘Hanuman on HAL’ went viral on social media and sparked a debate, it was removed on Tuesday by the defence PSU without stating any specific reason. While the slogan remained, an official told PTI that it was derived from India's first indigenous aircraft HF-24 Marut (meaning wind).
HAL's Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) CB Ananthakrishnan had earlier told ANI that the entire episode was ‘unintentional’.
{{/usCountry}}HAL's Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) CB Ananthakrishnan had earlier told ANI that the entire episode was ‘unintentional’.
{{/usCountry}}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.
The 14th edition of Asia's biggest aero show - Aero India 2023 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Air Force Station in Yelahanka, Bengaluru. Some of the ground-breaking technologies include Air Defence Systems, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), Aerial and Ground Precise Guided Munitions, Electronic Warfare (EW) systems, Land and Naval solutions, Avionic Systems, Air and Missile Defence Systems, and more are being featured in the show.
(With inputs from agencies)