Hindustan Aeronautics receives centre fuselage of Tejas Mk-1A amid delay concerns
With the aim of boosting India's indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities, VEM Technologies today handed over the first centre fuselage assembly for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). This marks a significant development amid concerns over delay raised by the Air Force chief Amar Preet Singh.The handover took place in Hyderabad in the presence of Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar and HAL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Dr D K Sunil.advertisementThis marks the first time a major sub-assembly for the LCA Tejas has been delivered by a private Indian company, highlighting the country's push for self-reliance in defence production under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
The handover comes a day after Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, in a sharp reminder to HAL, said that 'timeline is a big issue" - highlighting the continued delay in delivery of Tejas Mk-1A jets.Nearly three months ago, the IAF chief had publicly voiced concern about the slippage in deadlines. On paper, HAL was to deliver the first of 83 LCA Mk-1A jets by March 31, 2024, under a Rs 48,000-crore deal signed in February 2021. That did not happen.During the event, Sanjeev Kumar hailed the HAL-VEM Technologies partnership for accelerating the LCA Mk1A production. He said that there is a significant growth in defence production at a rate of about 10 per cent annually as well as in our defence exports.advertisementHAL Chairman and Managing Director, DK Sunil, also emphasised the growing role of Tier 1 and MSME suppliers in the LCA program. He noted that this handover marks a major milestone in the establishment of a fourth LCA Mk1A production line, supplementing the two existing lines in HAL-Bengaluru and one in HAL-Nashik. He assured that HAL will increase aircraft production and ensure timely deliveries to the Indian Air Force.HAL has built a national aerospace ecosystem by collaborating with private partners and providing essential support, including technical know-how and manufacturing infrastructure. This has empowered companies such as L&T, Alpha Tocol, Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL), VEM Technologies, and Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW) to manufacture critical sub-assemblies like centre fuselages, fuel drop tanks, pylons, wings, and more.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.The company has partnered with over 6,300 Indian vendors—including 2,448 MSMEs—supporting thousands of skilled jobs and reinforcing a robust domestic supply chain. In the past three years, HAL has placed orders worth Rs 13,763 crore with Indian vendors as part of its indigenisation efforts.Must Watch
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