BENGALURU: The order book of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is full with orders of Rs 84,000 crore while another Rs 50,000 crore of orders are in the pipeline. HAL Chairman and Managing Director
CB Ananthakrishnan said they are focusing on research and development so that they will be able to come up with more products.
“Atmanirbhar Bharat and the recent geopolitical situation has brought good tidings for the defence ecosystem of the country in general, and the HAL in particular. Today, we are in a very comfortable position. Our order book is very comfortable with orders of Rs 84,000 crore and our orders in the pipeline also stand at a very healthy figure of Rs 50,000 crore,” he said.
On the 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark 1A aircraft contract that was signed in the last edition of Aero India, HAL has to deliver the first aircraft. HAL officials said all the activities were running as per schedules and they were confident of meeting the delivery timelines.The defence PSU has also augmented the capacity of its LCA divisions to deliver the aircraft on time.
On the export front, Egypt and Argentina have shown interest in the homegrown LCA Tejas even as HAL is also trying to push the deal with Malaysia, despite some setbacks. The HAL is discussing with Argentina for 15 aircraft and proposing around 20 aircraft for Egypt.
Ananthakrishnan said they offered to help Egypt set up a local eco-system for LCA Tejas and Argentina was very happy about LCA and their air force team had also visited HAL. The HAL CMD said the Tumakuru plant that was recently inaugurated is ready to produce Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and Kamov helicopters.
In Malaysia, the LCA was one of the shortlisted fighters, and the HAL was hopeful of the contract. “(But) There has been a slight set-back there. We hear that South Koreans are likely to get the orders (for their T-50 light combat aircraft), but have not received anything yet in black-and-white. Notwithstanding that, we are making efforts,” the CMD said.
HAL removes Lord Hanuman’s image from trainer jet fin
Defence PSU HAL removed Lord Hanuman’s image from the vertical fin of its trainer aircraft HLFT42 (Hindustan Lead Fighter Trainer). The aircraft model is displayed at the ongoing Aero India 2023. The image of Lord Hanuman was seen on the vertical fin of the aircraft on the first day of the air show on Monday. HAL Chairman and Managing Director CB Ananthakrishnan said they removed it after having an internal discussion on it. “We had put the sticker just to depict the power of the aircraft, but after an internal discussion, we decided not to have it, so we removed it. It was a simple thing, and was based on the previous trainer aircraft ‘Marut’. But we saw some interpretations. The project is still in the initial stage and we only wanted to focus on the project,” the CMD said.
CONCERNS OVER SUKHOI GROUNDING
On the IAF’s concerns over recent grounding of many Sukhoi fighter jets, the HAL is making efforts to improve the repair and overhaul (RoH) facilities. The facility has been upgraded to handle 20 aircraft from earlier 12 aircraft for RoH and the turnaround time has been reduced from 30 months to 12 months. The HAL is taking all measures to ensure that AoG (aircraft on ground, basically ‘grounded’ aircraft) situation will not arise and improve serviceability, said HAL officials.