London. The state-run HAL will deliver 16 Light Combat Aircraft from 2019, and given the orders from the Indian Air Force (IAF), it will be able to ramp up the production to 24 aircraft per year by setting up a third assembly line.
HAL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) T Suvarna Raju told India Strategic in an interview at the Farnborough International Airshow here that the LCA is designed as a modular aircraft, and HAL is now set to outsource production of Front, Centre and Rear fuselage components as well as the Wings to the private industry. The process of certification of these major components is on, and once HAL accepts their quality assurance, “we will be able to speed up the aircraft production with HAL becoming the Integrator.”
HAL, which earlier used to produce nearly everything by itself, has been hand holding the private industry for some time, encouraging it to manufacture components with composite materials, and the vital gearbox. “We have 2000 engineers and some of our own technologies, and we want to share and encourage the private industry to develop in a big way in the aerospace sector, both for aircraft and helicopters.”
Third LCA Assembly Line
Mr Raju said HAL will complete delivery of 12 LCA Tejas in 2018, and ramp up the production to 16 next year, thanks to the second assembly line it has set up in Bangalore, where the company is headquartered. “We are in talks with IAF for the projected order of 83 Mark IA aircraft, and keeping that in mind, a third assembly line will be set up in Bangalore itself, where the LCA is currently produced.”
HAL’s first assembly line there has the capacity to produce eight aircraft in a year.
HAL has in hand an order for 40 LCAs, the first 20 in IOC (Initial Operational Clearance) configuration, and the next in FOC (Final Operational Clearance) configuration. Nine aircraft have been delivered, including two two-seat trainers, so far.
IAF wants six more trainers but they will be produced later, the momentum at the time being for single seat combat jets.
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