K Srinivasan
ON March 4, Reuters put out a story stating that “an Indian defence committee has recommended including the private sector in military aircraft manufacturing to shore up the capabilities of the Indian Air Force, whose falling squadron strength and delayed fighter deliveries have irked its chief…The committee, headed by the defence ministry’s top bureaucrat, submitted its report to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday, the Government said in a statement late on Monday, adding that Singh had directed that recommendations ‘be followed up in a time-bound manner’”.
RK Singh panel
The committee that the news agency was referring to was constituted by the MoD (chaired by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh) with a brief to recommend a pathway to boost the production of indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) with the active collaboration and participation of the private sector.
At present, public sector enterprise Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is the sole institution for aerospace manufacturing for fighter jets and has consistently faced criticism from multiple institutions, most prominently the Indian Air Force, which believes that it is perennially underequipped thanks to the HAL. For the record, it may be mentioned that the IAF presently has a squadron strength of 31 as opposed to the target of 42 squadrons.
Short in numbers
“At the moment, we are very badly off in terms of numbers. And the numbers that have been promised are also coming a little slow,” said the head of the IAF, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh recently. “We have fleets that will be phased out in the next five to 10 years. Those fleets will have to be replaced with new aircraft, and we already have vacancies available (shortfall). We are looking at 35 to 40 aircraft a year being produced somewhere. I understand capacities cannot come up overnight, but we need to start pushing ourselves towards that,” the Air Chief added.
What is the reason for the committee strongly plumping for the private sector is a reported additional order for 97 LCA MK1A that is in its final stages. HAL has an order book close to Rs 2 lakh crore and private entities are not involved. There is no way that delivery can take place on time. And this is not the only order.
It is evident that the Government wants the private sector to be part of the advanced multi-combat aircraft (AMCA) project. According to the Economic Times, “the eventual production of the jets will be undertaken by a special purpose vehicle, consisting of a private sector partner, HAL and the Aeronautical Development Authority. HAL is also looking to offer its existing facilities in Nashik to the private sector partner for manufacturing the AMCA in the future.’’
The right call
The Rajesh Kumar Singh committee has taken the right call in asking for the involvement of the private sector in aerospace manufacturing. The Tata-Airbus collaboration to manufacture the C-295 in India should be viewed only as the first step. If India has to be truly an aerospace heavyweight, then it’s critical that clean sheet aircraft are manufactured in a time-bound manner with the heart of the aircraft – the engine – also being designed and made in India.
One of the reasons why the LCA has been facing delays is because of the failure of GE Aerospace, a worldleading provider of jet and turboprop engines, to provide the engines on time. The lesson to be learnt from this is to start making engines at home. Just involving the private sector in manufacturing aircraft will not be enough. Still, the latest move is an excellent first step.
