Bengaluru: Referring to delays in the LCA-Tejas aircraft improvements and deliveries, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh has said he has “no confidence” in HAL and told the defence PSU: “You have to alleviate (our) worries and make us more confident. At the moment, I’m just not confident of HAL, which is a very wrong thing to happen.”
The IAF chief, who has expressed dissatisfaction about HAL in the past too, was seen criticising the PSU in a video taken on Monday that has now surfaced. “I can tell you (HAL) what our requirements and worries are,” the chief is heard saying in the video.
HAL has attributed delays to sanctions imposed on the country after the 1998 nuclear tests. CMD DK Sunil said they will meet timelines of the overall project started in 1984 and the additional orders it is anticipating.
HAL, which has been criticised by earlier IAF chiefs too, said Tuesday it is confident of delivering “at least 11 Tejas-Mk1A aircraft to IAF by March-end” as part of the 83 aircraft contract.
Multiple people associated with the project have hinted that HAL, which is in charge of Tejas production, had “viewed the aircraft as belonging to Aeronautical Development Agency”, which designed and developed the fighter, and that it began working on the aircraft seriously only after a push for Make-in-India post 2014.
Answering a specific question on how HAL leadership viewed repeated criticism from the Air Chief, Sunil said: “It’s no secret that this programme started in 1984 and it was delayed. At the same time, I have to put it in context: You know that we (India) had sanctions after our nuclear test in 1998 so we had to build things from ground up. A lot of work has gone into it. So, the delays are not simply attributable to, you know, just laziness on part of the industry.”
“There have been technical issues which have now been solved. Now, the concern of the Air Chief is understandable as his squadron strength is reducing. We have now promised that we will have all these structures ready. And we have conveyed this in multiple meetings at different levels,” he added.
He said HAL was pushing American firm GE to consider an 80% transfer of technology (ToT) deal for the GE-414 engine that will power the upgraded variants of the Tejas, and probably India’s fifth-generation aircraft Amca, which is under development. Earlier, the talks were for 58% ToT. GE-404 engines power the current variants of Tejas.
Sunil said HAL has seen significant growth in its order book, which stands at more than Rs 1.3 lakh crore as of Dec 2024, thanks to several major contracts in the past year, including orders for 12 Su-30MKI aircraft for the IAF, 240 AL31FP engines, and multiple helicopter orders for various defence forces.
HAL is pursuing two major contracts for 97 LCA MK 1A and 156 LCH orders, which are in advanced stages of clearance. These contracts are expected to add approximately Rs 1.3 lakh crore to the order book. The company projects its order book position to reach Rs. 2.5 lakh crore by 2025-26 end.