'Centre fuselage assembly' for LCA Tejas Mk1A handed over to HAL: Defence Ministry

New Delhi: In a significant boost to India's indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities, the "first centre fuselage assembly" for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1A was handed over to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited by a private Indian company on Friday, the Defence Ministry said.

The handover in Hyderabad, marked a "significant milestone" in establishing a fourth production line for the LCA Mk1A, in addition to the two existing lines in HAL, Bengaluru and one in HAL, Nashik, it said.

"This event marks for the first time a major sub-assembly for the LCA Tejas being manufactured by a private Indian company," the statement said.

The LCA Tejas Division has already received structural modules of air intake assemblies, rear fuselage assemblies, loom assemblies and fin and rudder assemblies in the Mk1A configuration. HAL plans to extend this outsourcing model to future projects, reinforcing its in-house capacity with the expertise of Indian industry, it said.

The CMD of HAL acknowledged the rapid growth of Tier 1 and MSME suppliers in the production of the LCA Tejas.

He assured that with major sub-assemblies underway, HAL will increase the production of the LCA aircraft and ensure timely deliveries to the Indian Air Force. The handover took place in the presence of Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar and HAL Chairman and Managing Director D K Sunil.

"In a significant boost to India's indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities, the first centre fuselage assembly for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1A was handed over to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) by M/s VEM Technologies in Hyderabad on May 30," it said.

The secretary (defence production) hailed the partnership between HAL and VEM Technologies in accelerating the production of LCA Mk 1A.

He said there is a significant growth in defence production at a rate of about 10 per cent annually as well as in our defence exports.

This would not have been possible without the support of industries and Public Sector Units like the HAL.

The country's security and sovereignty are paramount and cannot be achieved without own manufacturing and supply of spare parts which could meet the requirements of the armed forces, he was quoted as saying in the statement.

The HAL has built a "national aerospace ecosystem" by closely supporting private partners and providing critical inputs such as jigs, fixtures, tools and technical know-how, the statement said.

This has enabled companies like L&T, Alpha Tocol, Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL), VEM Technologies and Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW) to produce complex sub-assemblies such as centre fuselages, fuel drop tanks, pylons, rear fuselages, wings, fins, rudders and air intakes, it said.

In line with the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the HAL continues to drive indigenisation efforts in the aerospace and defence sector, the ministry said.

The HAL has partnered with over 6,300 Indian vendors, including 2,448 MSMEs, supporting thousands of skilled jobs and contributing to a robust domestic supply chain.

In the last three years, the HAL has placed orders worth Rs 13,763 crore with Indian vendors and is actively pursuing the indigenisation of complex aircraft systems and critical components across platforms, it added.