India To Buy Indigenous Saras Aircraft Despite Crash

Indian defense forces will purchase the indigenous Saras multirole aircraft despite its March 6 accident, Indian Defence Ministry officials said. The Air Force and Navy continue to evince interest in the aircraft, officials here said.A senior Air Force official, however, said the Saras is expensive at about $8 million per aircraft.A prototype of the Saras being developed by the Bangalore-based, state-owned National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) crashed March 6 near Bangalore, killing three Air Force pilots.

The second prototype of the 14-seater Saras has been fitted with a high-performance engine, and its weight had been considerably reduced, a NAL scientist said, by fine-tuning the design, making more use of composites and improving electrical fittings. No official reason has been given for the crash.The 500-kilogram weight reduction from the first prototype, which weighed 5,118 kilograms, was matched with a high-thrust engine from Pratt and Whitney, the scientist said.

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