Indian industrial heavyweight group expects export orders for LCA Tejas
The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will produce 24 LCA Tejas (MK1A) a year following the inauguration of a third facility at Nashik, its Chairman and Managing Director C B Ananthakrishnan said on 7 April 2023.
The third facility was inaugurated by Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and is a follow up to the Defence Ministry’s Rs.48,000 crore contract signed in Feb 2021 for the procurement of 83 Tejas jets for the Indian Air Force.
Currently, HAL’s two facilities at Bengaluru manufacture 16 indigenously-developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas.
HAL also expects orders for Tejas from Egypt, Argentina, the US, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Aramane has urged HAL to take up new initiatives to aggressively compete in the global defence market and look into new areas like unmanned vehicles as the country is in need of these advanced systems.
Ananthakrishnan said, ”HAL’s Nashik division has achieved peak overhaul capacity of 20 Su-30 aircraft per year despite having supply chain issues in current geopolitical situations.”
The Su-30 MKI Repair and Overhaul (ROH) facility was set up in 2014.
Aramane also handed over the 100th Sukhoi-30 MKI ROH (Repair and Overhaul) aircraft to the Indian Air Force at the Nashik facility inauguration. fiinews.com
