The Marut was a major technological achievement for India and the country's main aerospace company Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL), whose only previous design experience had been with the HT-2 trainer.
The type first flew in 1961 and, despite a number of ongoing problems, particularly with regard to the powerplant, was a relatively successful and well-liked machine, with 145 being built and remaining in service for over 20 years.
Maruts are the only other aircraft besides the Mystere and the Toofani on which the serials were painted in such large letters.
When the Marut is finally completed and displayed on a pole, it will be the largest aircraft to be so displayed, till now only Gnats and a Mystere have been displayed likewise on poles.
A spot across the road from the Academy's War Memorial has been earmarked for displaying the Marut.
The HF-24Marut has the distinction of being the first aircraft to be completely designed and built in India.
The first of two prototypes flew in April 1970 and the 18 production aircraft were the last Maruts produced.
At the time, this powerplant was intended only as an interim measure and the search for an alternative powerplant continued, with leading contenders being the Soviet Turmansky RD-9F and the Egyptian EI-300, neither of which found their way into the Marut.
The Marut was designed by the famed Kurt Tank, but never realised its full potential due to insufficient power.
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.
Maruts constantly found themselves under heavy and concentrated fire from the ground during their low-level attack missions.
While the Marut's pilots expressed an understandable desire for more thrust than the Orpheus 703 offered, they were unanimous in their view that the aircraft proved itself a thoroughly competent vehicle for the low-level ground attack profile.
And by the time the first prototype of the Marut commenced its flight test programme in 1961, Hindustan Aircraft employed 18 German design engineers, a design department possessing 150 personnel, a prototype shop with 631 personnel including 39 supervisors, and a production engineering department with more than 100 personnel.
The Marut was the first fighter aircraft designed and built in India, and was developed by a team under the leadership of Kurt Tank, the designer of many Focke-Wulf aircraft during WW2.
It was originally intended as an interceptor, but was found to be underpowered and eventually entered service in the ground attack role.
The various development programmes to enhance the operational performance of the HF-24Marut by HAL were abandoned for one reason or the other.
Delay in availability of the HF-24Marut for the ground attack fighter mission led, in 1966, to the Indian Air Force [IAF evaluating and the Government purchasing the Sukhoi Su-7BM, deliveries of which from the Soviet Union were to commence in March 1968.
The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited HF-24Marut fighter-bomber was built in India, based on a design by Kurt Tank, famous for his Focke-Wulf aircraft built for Germany during WWII.
The Hindustan Aeronautics HF-24Marut (Sanskrit: "storm deity") was an Indian fighter-bomber aircraft of the 1960s.
The Marut was designed by the famed Kurt Tank, but never realised its full potential due to insufficient power.
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.
