HAL/NAL Regional Transport Aircraft

The HAL/NAL Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA) is a project of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL). It is also known as the Indian Regional Jet (IRJ). This aircraft is claimed to be a turboprop or a jet with a capacity of 80-100 passengers. The basic version will have 80-90 seats (RTA-70).[3] The cost of airliner will be 20 percent lower compared to its global competitors.[4]

RTA
Role Regional airliner
Manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)
Designer National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL)
Introduction 2025-26 (Expected)[1]
Status Proposed (Government approval pending)[2]

Development

In 2007 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) jointly designed and developed a 70-seater civil regional aircraft. NAL had held discussions with Pratt and Whitney (Canada) and General Electric (U.S.) for an engine. The NAL-designed RTA-70 is meant to ply short-haul routes and compete with planes of French-Italian aircraft maker Avions de Transport Régional (ATR), a leading exporter of turbo-prop aircraft to the Indian sub-continent.[5]

In 2008, the Indian government through the Ministries of Defence and Civil Aviation have approved the plan and have asked HAL to prepare a roadmap for the project. It will not be an indigenous venture as the government is planning to enter into a memorandum of understanding with major names in the industry like Embraer, Bombardier Aerospace[6] or United Aircraft Corporation. The aircraft was expected to fly in six to seven years.

In 2010 at the Indian Aviation exhibition held in Hyderabad, a proposed cabin was on display and more details on the specifications of the aircraft had been revealed.

On 23 December 2010, it was announced that the Indian government had asked NAL to consider the use of turbofan engines on the RTA-70.[3] According to an NAL official, the use of a jet engine was seen as "a stepping stone to the high end" by the government.[3]

In September 2019, it was reported that NAL was holding meetings with Minister of Science and Technology for the plan of 70-seater civil aircraft. Regional transport aircraft has always been in the long-term vision. After getting in-principle approval from Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister's Office, preliminary design phase will be completed in one-and-a-half year and will be submitted to government for approval. Further development will start after government sanctions the project.[2]

Design

The aircraft is claimed to offer 25% lower acquisition costs, 25% lower operating costs and 50% lower maintenance costs than existing turboprop regional aircraft.[7]

The 70-seat aircraft will have a range of 1,350 nm (2,500 km), and require a take-off field length and landing field length of 900m (2,950 ft). The aircraft would have a length of 28.6m and a wing-span of 29.4m. The aircraft would have a service ceiling of 30,000 ft, a cruising speed of 300kt, and the noise level would meet Stage 4 criteria.

The cabin, which would be able to seat four abreast, would have a width of 3.01m and height of 3.35m. The cargo hold would have a volume of 25m³ (880 ft³).

NAL is considering a composite airframe. The aircraft will be powered by two "next-generation turboprop engine". It would have an indigenous fly-by-wire control system, open distributed modular avionics, automatic dependence surveillance - broadcast navigation capabilities, and advanced displays.[8]

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References
  1. "Tejas team confident of indigenous large passenger plane roll-out in 5-7 years". IBTimes. February 22, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  2. "NAL plans design, development of 70-seater aircraft". The Economic Times. September 16, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
  3. "India's regional aircraft could be a jet". Flightglobal.com. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  4. "Ministry of Defence gives nod for proposal to produce Saras civil aircraft developed by NAL". UNI. February 21, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  5. John Pike. "RTA-70 Regional Transport Aircraft". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  6. "Bombardier refuse de commenter le plan indien". Argent.canoe.ca. 2009-04-23. Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  7. "Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  8. "India unveils details of indigenous 70-seat turboprop". Flightglobal. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.