JOIN USWhile work on obtaining the final operational clearance for India’s light combat aircraft (LCA) –Tejas – is going on in full swing, agencies working on the project, parallelly, are vying to increase the indigenisation aspect of the aircraft.
Sources in the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), which is the nodal agency for the project, said: “We have invited local vendors to take up the development of the line replacement units (LRU), commonly called ‘components’ so as to completely avoid or, at least, reduce the dependency on imports.”
Tejas, which was supposed to have been flying on an indigenously developed engine, has had to go in for imported GE engines after the project Kaveri—India’s engine development programme—failed to meet specifications.
Barring the engine, which is the heart of the aircraft, there are about 358 components that go into the aircraft, including crucial components in important systems, like avionics, environmental control, electrical and flight control.
Out of the 358 components, 53 per cent, that is 190 components are indigenously manufactured, while the remaining 168 are being imported. Speaking to Deccan Herald, C Ranganayakulu, Scientist “G,” ADA, said: “Currently, we are using imported LRUs to operate the flights for test flights and other sorties. When Tejas is ready for induction, we want to have as many indigenous LRUs as possible on the aircraft.”
Self-reliance aim
The move is in line with the Centre’s ambitions of increasing indigenisation, especially in crucial technologies. “There is no substitute for self-reliance,” reiterated Defence Minister A K Antony at a function organised by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Ranganayakulu, who is the convener for development of LRUs at ADA, explained that the agency was mulling to perform what they term “Drop-in Replacement. We will continue to use imported components but are hoping that indigenous products will eventually replace the imported items. We will stop the imports as soon as we have indigenous products meeting the exact specifications.” Now, LRUs are imported from Europe, Israel, the UK, Germany, France and other countries as different nations have different specialisations. The engine is imported from the US. The Limited Series Production-8 (LSP-8) of Tejas, the last in the LSP series, successfully completed its maiden flight on Sunday.
Sources said the Tejas, which is going through the initial operational clearance-2 (IOC-2), will be ready to get the final clearance (FOC) by 2014. The Indian Air Force (IAF), which has been waiting to induct the aircraft, is planning to raise the first squadron in Sulur, Tamil Nadu, and has already placed orders for 40 aircraft.