HAL plans fourth assembly line for Tejas jets at Nashik to make up for delivery delay

The failure of United States to deliver the F-404 engines for Tejas Mk-1 is the reason for HAL not being able to start the production of home-grown combat jets for the Indian Air Force, which is struggling with depleting squadron numbers.

New Delhi: Aiming to accelerate the production of Tejas LCA, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited plans a fourth assembly line for manufacturing the home-grown fighter jet to make up for the lost time once General Electric starts supplying the engines, top sources told DH.

The failure of United States to deliver the F-404 engines for Tejas Mk-1 is the reason for HAL not being able to start the production of the combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force, which is struggling with depleting squadron numbers.

“GE currently has a backlog of 26 engines, but the company said it would deliver the first one by March and subsequently ramp up the production,” sources said here.

HAL has two LCA assembly lines in Bengaluru with a capacity of producing eight aircraft each. It also has a third facility at Nashik that also has the capacity of making eight aircrafts annually. The first LCA Tejas from the Nashik plant is likely to roll out by March.

The aviation major is now planning a second assembly line at Nashik, but it will come up only after the supply of engines from GE becomes regular. The company will need 1.5 years to establish the new facility.

The Defence Ministry in 2021 signed an agreement with the HAL to supply 83 LCA Tejas Mk-1 – 73 fighters and 10 trainers – to the IAF at a cost of Rs 45,696 crores. For these aircraft, GE was to supply 99 engines.

While the US company claims "supply-side constraints" for its failure to deliver the engines in time, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took up the issue with his US counterpart in his last visit. Indian officials also held a number of meetings with their US counterparts to resolve the crisis.

The stalemate in LCA production comes at a time when the number of IAF fighter squadrons is going down.

As against the sanctioned 42 squadrons of fighter jets, the IAF currently has 31 squadrons, but the strength will dip further this year with the phasing out of the last two squadrons of MiG-21s. Also the two squadrons of first generation Tejas LCA are used primarily for training.

Earlier this week, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said the IAF didn’t receive even the first batch of all the 40 Tejas LCA though the first one was inducted way back in 2016. HAL has supplied 38 aircraft so far and the last two trainers will be delivered shortly.

From the existing stock of reserve engines, HAL has produced the first LCA Mk-1A while the second one is on the assembly line. The first LCA Mk-1A is now flying for various trials and is likely to fly in the upcoming Aero India 2025.