By Shivam Patel
BENGALURU (Reuters) -India’s state fighter jet maker Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) said it understood why India’s air force was impatient over delays in delivering warplanes and would start rolling them out once General Electric supplied engines for them.
In a pre-scheduled press conference on Tuesday that was held a day after the head of the air force rebuked company officials, HAL Chairman D.K. Sunil said when asked about the delays: “The concern of the air chief is understandable. Of course, his squadron strengths are going down.”
“We have now promised that we will have all the structures ready,” Sunil said. “We are building this. Once the engines are available, this will start rolling out.”
The Indian Air Force’s fleet of mainly ex-Soviet aircraft has been operating with only 31 fighter squadrons compared with a target of 42, frustrating its officials given the country’s tense relations with neighbours China and Pakistan.
The Air Force has ordered 83 Mk-1A light combat aircraft from HAL, an advanced variant of the operational Mk-1 “Tejas”, with deliveries initially planned to start in February 2024 as part of a 364.68 billion rupees ($4.20 billion) contract. It plans to procure 97 more Mk-1As, which would take the total of the Tejas group of aircraft to 220.
But deliveries have been repeatedly delayed, due in part to the slow arrival of engines from GE, which has been facing supply chain issues.
Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh was seen rebuking HAL officials at the Aero India air show in Bengaluru in a video filmed by defence news outlet National Defence that went viral on Tuesday.
“At the moment I am just not confident of HAL,” Singh said, seating inside the cockpit of a trainer aircraft as HAL officials crouched by his side on a platform.
“I was promised that when I come here in February I will see 11 Mk1As ready, minus the engines,” Singh said. “Not a single one is ready. Not impressed.”
India’s defence production secretary, Sanjeev Kumar, said at the same air show that production lines had stabilised both at HAL and GE, and that the Indian company would have the capacity to hand over 16 to 24 aircraft in the fiscal year that starts in April.
GE Aerospace referred to a company statement from earlier this month that said the company has so far delivered 65 engines for the LCA Mk-1 programme, and another 99 are on order for the LCA Mk-1A variant.
India’s close defence partner Russia this week also offered to make its fifth-generation stealth fighter jet Sukhoi Su-57 in India for the Indian Air Force, by enhancing the Indian production line of the Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft, 260 of which are in India’s fleet.
($1 = 86.8700 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Shivam Patel; Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Jamie Freed)
