NEW DELHI: Finally approving a long-pending demand of private industries to provide a level playing field in defence manu- facturing, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced that test facilities of the government and the Services would soon be opened for the sector.
“We have just approved a proposal to provide the test facilities of the government to the private sector after incorporating the comments of the stakeholders participating in indigenous manufacturing,” said the Defence Minister.
Later, speaking to the media, Air Chief BS Dhanoa said that the older and non-upgraded versions of the MiG 21 fighters will be phased out. “The basic versions of the MiG fighters will be phased out by December this year,” he said.
The first variants of the MiGs entered the IAF 55 years back, in 1964 as its first supersonic jet. Dhanoa appreciated the HAL and the Base Repair Depots of IAF for efficiently managing the machine overhaul and keeping it combat ready even when Russia has stopped flying this jet. He said, “The 95 per cent components of the overhaul are being made by us indigenously.”