(This was originally posted in Hindustan Times by Rahul Singh)
IAF Deputy Chief To Monitor New ₹48,000 Cr Tejas Project A three-star Indian Air Force officer will head the team that will monitor the ₹48,000 crore LCA (light combat aircraft) Mk-1A contract awarded to state-run plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a senior defence ministry officer said at Aero India 2021 on Thursday.
The monitoring team will ensure timely delivery of the 83 aircraft.
“Right from the contract signing, an integrated project monitoring team headed by the deputy chief of air staff will closely monitor the implementation of the contract. Biannual review by all stakeholders is planned to undertake course corrections needed to enable HAL to deliver the rated production,” said VL Kantha Rao, director general (acquisition) in the ministry.
The Rafale project is also being monitored by the deputy chief.
The defence ministry on Wednesday awarded HAL the ₹48,000-crore contract to supply 83 LCA Mk-1A jets to the IAF. The first Mk-1A aircraft will be delivered to the air force in three years, with the rest being supplied by 2030. The deal involves the supply of 73 Mk-1A fighter jets and 10 LCA Mk-1 trainer.
On Tuesday, defence minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated HAL’s second LCA plant in the city to increase the yearly production rate of the fighter jet from eight to 16.
The deal for the 83 Mk-1A jets will take the total number of Tejas variants ordered to 123. The 40 LCAs already ordered by IAF are in the initial operational clearance (IOC) and the more advanced final operational clearance (FOC) configurations. The LCA Mk-1A will come with additional improvements over the FOC aircraft, making it the most advanced Tejas variant so far..
This facility will produce the trainer aircraft for IAF in IOC, FOC and LCA Mk-1A configurations, Rao said. With current level of supply chain and vendor base, HAL will meet the delivery timelines for the 83 aircraft, he added.
