BENGALURU: India is taking huge steps to ensure the indigenization of key components and hopefully, the reliance on foreign OEMs for niche technologies will reduce significantly after five to seven years, said Vivek Ram Chaudhari, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal, while speaking at the ‘Aerospace & Defence’ session held as part of the Synergia Conclave-2023 in Bengaluru on Sunday.
“A good example would be the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). The major component that is procured from outside the country is the GE404 engine on the LCA Mark I. We recently got this understanding with GE for the GE414 engine for the LCA Mark II which will also probably be the stepping stone for the engine that will be fitted in AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft). We are self-reliant in terms of radars, avionics systems, EW (Electronic Warfare) systems that has gone into the package,” the IAF chief said, while speaking at the Synergia Conclave-2023 in Bengaluru.
He said that initially, the LCA radar was procured from Israel, while EW systems were obtained from other countries, however, the new aircraft will have India-made Utam radar. The IAF chief said conventional application of knowledge and technology will produce an incremental change, whereas innovative use of converging technologies can bring about exponential changes.
The manned fighters will remain the fulcrum of aerospace power around which other systems will operate, at least for the next decade, he added. Future aircraft need to have enhanced survivability in a contested and well-defended environment, the capability to deliver precision munitions, flexibility to undertake mixed manned and unmanned missions, and simultaneously integrate with a host of data link sensors to create an extremely high level of situational awareness, which will be the key to winning any future conflicts, he observed.
He noted that glide bombs with higher accuracy and payloads are the need of the hour, while they are also focusing on loitering munitions which can loiter, identify the target, and control the direction of the impact.
Air-to-ground missiles are considered an expensive proposition as they hinge on good seekers, complicated onboard navigation systems, and other components that increase their accuracy, he said and added that in the ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, precision-guided munitions provided significant value to the air forces.