HAL HF-24 Marut
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The Hindustan Aeronautics HF-24 Marut (Sanskrit: "storm deity") was an Indian fighter-bomber aircraft of the 1960s. It was India's first jet aircraft, first flying on June 17 1961. Unusually, the wooden mock-up of the aircraft was actually flyable as an air-launched glider.
The Marut was designed by the famed Kurt Tank, but never realised its full potential due to insufficient power. Although originally conceived to operate in the vicinity of Mach 2, the aircraft could barely exceed Mach 1 in level flight. The same lack of power made it completely inadequate for the ground attack role that it had originally been expected to fill. In the end, it proved cheaper and simpler to equip the Indian Air Force with Soviet combat aircraft rather than continue with the Marut's development, especially after Tank left the programme in 1967.
A total of 147 aircraft were built, including 18 two-seat trainers. The last examples were withdrawn from service during 1985.
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[edit] Variants
- Marut Mk.1 : Single-seat ground-attack fighter.
- Marut Mk.1T : Two-seat training version.
[edit] Specifications (Marut Mk.1)
General characteristics
- Crew: one
- Length: 15.87 m (52 ft 1 in)
- Wingspan: 9.00 m (29 ft 6 in)
- Height: 3.60 m (11 ft 10 in)
- Wing area: 28 m² (301 ft²)
- Empty weight: 6,195 kg (13,658 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 10,908 kg (24,048 lb)
- Powerplant: 2× Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus Mk 703 turbojet, 21.6 kN (4,850 lbf) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 1,128 km/h (701 mph)
- Range: 800 km (500 miles)
- Service ceiling: 13,750 m (45,100 ft)
- Rate of climb: m/s (ft/min)
- Wing loading: kg/m² (lb/ft²)
Armament
- 4 x 30 mm ADEN cannons
- up to 48 x 2.65 in (67 mm) rockets
- up to 1,800 kg (4,000 lb) of stores on 4 hardpoints
