In scathing remarks ruing the sluggish pace of delivery of Tejas aircraft by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh expressed frustration with the inability of the state-owned enterprise to timely deliver the first batch of 40 Tejas aircraft, the deliveries for which began in 2016.
Noting that "technology delayed is technology denied", the IAF chief stressed on the need to institutionalise a competitive approach by roping in private players.
"Production agencies have to invest in their advanced manufacturing processes so that the speed can increase. Upskilling their manpower and whatever they do, the scale of the production has to go up. Tejas, we started inducting in 2016,” he said, adding that the history of Tejas should be seen 1984 onwards when the aircraft was conceived.
"First (Tejas) aircraft flew in 2001 — 17 years. Then, the induction started another 15 years later — 2016. Today, we are in 2024, I do not have the first 40 aircraft also. This is the production capability. We need to do something. I am very convinced that we need to get some private players in. We need to have competition. We need to have multiple sources available so that people are wary of losing their orders. Otherwise, things will not change,” he said in an address at the 21st Subroto Mukerjee Seminar.
The Air Chief Marshal further noted that India needs more leeway in term of Research and Development in the defence sector. "R&D loses its relevance if it is not able to meet the timeline. Time is a very important thing. We need to give greater leeway to the researchers. There will be failures, let's not be scared of failures. I think we are losing a lot of time because we are scared of failure...Defence is one sector where time is very important. If we don't meet the timeline, technology is of no use," he said.
The remarks by the Air Force chief came as China showcased its sixth-generation fighter aircraft, the 'White Elephant', also known as the J-36, on December 26. Referring to concerns emanating from China and Pakistan, ACM Singh said that India's adversaries were increasing their air force capabilities at a very rapid pace.
"As far as China is concerned, it is not just the numbers, even the technology is growing at a very rapid pace...we just saw.. the recent flight of the new generation fighter which they have pulled out, the stealth fighter," he said.
Noting that the aerospace sector will be a major contributor towards achieving India's goal to become a developed nation by 2047, the Air Force chief said that the country needs to be "powerful enough to be able to deter our adversaries so that we can concentrate on our progress and growth".
Underlining the need to achieve 'Atmanirbharta' in the defence sector, Air Chief Marshal Singh, however, said, "We need to identify how do we get on to that 'Atmanirbhar' track. We all understand that 'Atmanirbharta' cannot be achieved overnight..it is a slow process, it is a painful process," the IAF chief said.
"But are we in mission mode towards it... I don't see that energy," he rued.
The IAF has faced challenges in delivery of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A for some time now on account of delays attributed to further delays in the supply of General Electric-manufactured F-404 engines.
The hold-up in manufacturing of the aircraft comes at a time when the IAF is suffering from depletion of fighter squadrons. It requires 42 squadrons, but only has 30.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have flagged the delay in delivery of 99 GE F404 engines during their visit to the US and GE has promised to begin supply by March 2025, already two years behind the schedule.
A report in Financial Express said the Centre has imposed penalties on GE Aerospace over the two-year deal. The first timeline to deliver the engines was March 2023.
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