The Indian Air Force (IAF) has submitted the flight evaluation report to the Indian Defence Ministry for the purchase of basic trainer aircraft.

The aircraft vying for the deal includes the Hawker Beechcraft T-6C Texan II, the Grob G-120, the Korea Aerospace Industries KT-1, the Pilatus PC-7 and EADS PZL-130 Orlik.

The IAF is seeking to acquire 75 basic trainers, in a deal valued at nearly $1bn, to replace the Hindustan Aeronautics’ HPT-32 Deepak trainer aircraft.

The final contract is likely to be signed by June 2011, reports livemint.com.

IAF trainee pilots are training directly on the Stage-2 advanced jet trainer Hawk-132.