Bengaluru: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday asked public sector undertakings like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to put a “realistic timeline” while planning and executing critical projects to avoid “technology ob…

Bengaluru: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday asked public sector undertakings like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to put a “realistic timeline” while planning and executing critical projects to avoid “technology obsolescence.””Delays can create gaps in meeting critical defence requirements, lead to cost escalations and increase the risk of technology obsolescence,” the minister said at an event where HAL handed over three HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft and two Tejas LCA Mk-1 twin-seater trainer aircraft to the Indian Air Force, months after the original deadline.HAL supplied the remaining 38 first-generation Tejas LCA Mk-1 aircraft between 2016 and 2024 in two batches: 20 aircraft with initial operational clearance (IOC) and another 18 with final operational clearance (FOC).Even the long-awaited Tejas LCA Mk-1A, positioned as the IAF’s fighter jet mainstay in the future, is still not ready for delivery two years after the contracted schedule, though HAL has 10 GE engines and has readied 27 airframes.Integration of the Israeli Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, a new capability for the LCA, has emerged as one of the key challenges. There are also some structural issues with the missile systems.”Integration of a fighter jet goes through iteration. This aircraft is highly software-intensive. You need to test a particular system again and again to come to a deliverable position. The AESA radar is going through that process. It is 90-95% operational, but that remaining 5% still needs to be tested repeatedly,” Ravi K, HAL CMD, told DH.HAL hands over Tejas trainers, HTT-40 to IAF; Dhruv NG helicopters to Pawan HansOn the missile part, he said that even though trials were completed, there were “a few structural things” that needed to be checked by carrying the missile. “We have to fly in different configurations with the latest software. Those things are still pending,” Ravi said.Once integration is done, HAL will take 30-45 days to ready the first Tejas LCA Mk-1A for delivery. Ravi said he hoped to deliver a few LCA Mk-1A aircraft by the end of the financial year.HAL was to deliver the first LCA Mk-1A by March 2024, but the timeline has been delayed due to a combination of factors, including US major General Electric’s inability to deliver the F404 engines on time.The Bengaluru-based company inked two separate contracts worth more than Rs 1,09,000 crore with the Defence Ministry to deliver 180 Tejas LCA Mk-1A aircraft to the IAF, whose squadron strength dropped to 29 after the retirement of the last two MiG squadrons.Four Dhruv Next Generation helicopters were also handed over to Pawan Hans Limited, which had placed an order for 10 such civilian choppers from HAL.

Source: Deccan Herald