HAL HF-24 Marut

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HF-24 Marut
Type	Fighter-bomber
Manufacturer	Hindustan Aeronautics
Designed by	Kurt Tank
Maiden flight	17 June 1961
Retired	1985
Primary user	Indian Air Force
Number built	147 [1]

The Hindustan Aeronautics HF-24 Marut (Sanskrit: "Spirit of the Tempest") was an Indian fighter-bomber aircraft of the 1960s. It was India's first jet aircraft, first flying on 17 June 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 The last examples were withdrawn from service in 1985.

Contents 1 Variants 2 Operators 3 Specifications (Marut Mk.1) 4 See also 5 References 5.1 Notes 5.2 Bibliography 6 External links

[edit] Variants

• Marut Mk.1 : Single-seat ground-attack fighter.
• Marut Mk.1T : Two-seat training version.

[edit] Operators

 India

• Indian Air Force
  • No. 10 Squadron, Indian Air Force
  • No.31 Squadron, Indian Air Force
  • No.220 Squadron, Indian Air Force

[edit] Specifications (Marut Mk.1)

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• 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 (300 ft²)
• Empty weight: 6,195 kg (13,660 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 (609 kn, 701 mph)
• Range: 800 km (430 NM, 500 mi)
• Service ceiling 13,750 m (45,100 ft)

Armament

• Guns: 4× 30 mm (1.18 in) ADEN cannon
• Hardpoints: 4 with a capacity of 1,800 kg (4,000 lb),
• Rockets: 48× 2.65 in (67 mm) rockets

[edit] See also

Comparable aircraft

• Sukhoi Su-7
• Helwan HA-300
• Hawker Hunter, An aircraft with similar design.
  

Related lists

• List of aircraft of the Indian Air Force
• List of fighter aircraft
  

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

[edit] Bibliography

• Donald, David (editor). The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. London:Aerospace, 1997. ISBN1-85605-375-X.

[edit] External links

• HINDUSTAN FIGHTER HF-24 MARUT

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