The design advanced as the "Marut" and entered service in a Mk 1model form during 1967. As the Indian government had pushed ahead with an indigenous nuclear program, more promising engine installations became limited from foreign suppliers which forced the Mk 1 to take on a pair of British Bristol Siddeley Orpheus Mk 703 series turbojet engines of 4,850 lb thrust each. Engine production was therefore local through paid license. Maximum speed reached 690 miles per hour with a combat radius out to 245 miles and service ceiling of 45,100 feet. The forced selection of the Orpheus would forever limit the combat capabilities of the Marut as a frontline fighter and its role therefore moved along the lines of a fighter-bomber / strike platform instead.
Standard armament of the Marut became 4 x 30mm ADEN cannons with 120 rounds fitted per gun installation. A retractable rocket pack with 50 x 68mm (2.68") rockets also became a part of the Marut's armament suite and there were four underwing hardpoints for the carrying of up to 4,000 lb of external ordnance - mainly conventional drop bombs and rocket pods.
The Mk 1 existed as the dominant service model in the Marut legacy. Mk 1T designated aircraft were eighteen two-seat airframes utilized for the training role. The Mk 1A was an early pre-production aircraft outfitted with Bristol Siddeley "Orpheus" 703 afterburning engines providing up to 5,720 lb of thrust each but was not furthered into a production form. The Mk 1 BX served as a testbed for the Egyptian Brandner E-300 turbojet engine and nothing more. The Mk 1R were two production Maruts fitted 2 x Bristol Siddeley Orpheus 703 afterburning engines of 5,720 lb thrust each. The Mk 2 was a proposed Marut fighter variant with a pair of Rolls-Royce Turbomeca "Adour" engines - though this mark never saw the light of day as a production fighter either.
The HF-24 went on to stock three total IAF units - Nos 10, 31, and 220 - and on-call strength was never to be more than sixteen or so ready aircraft. First combat actions were recorded during the Indo-Pak War of 1971 where the type proved a sound attack platform despite its performance limitations. None were lost to Pakistani interceptors and fighters directly though at least four were downed by ground-based fire and two destroyed while on the ground. Its only air kill came on December 7th, 1971 when a Marut pilot downed a Pakistani Air Force North American F-86 "Sabre" jet fighter. During the conflict the Marut showcased good survival qualities based on after-action reports - several instances saw Maruts arriving back home under the power of a single engine.
India's first homegrown fighter did not meet overall expectations during a period when other global offerings proved much more advanced. 1975 saw the Marut production run reach the century mark (100 aircraft) but the line had already become woefully outdated by then-modern standards and held little in the way of advancement despite the cost and development work already sunk into the program. At the very least, the Marut served to provide a newly-independent nation much valuable experience in the world of military aviation - from concept and design to development and production of nearly all related systems, including the all-important engines, and helped to influence similar aviation initiatives that lay for the nation in the decades ahead.
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