Air Force Chief frustrated by HAL’s long delays
13 Feb 2025
Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh has expressed reservations about entrusting state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) of the job of delivering the much-needed Tejas fighter jets to the Indian Air Force, saying he is not confident of HAL making these available anytime soon.
The Air Chief who, along with the Army chief, flew the Tejas Mk 2 at the start of the Aero India 2025 event at Bengaluru’s Yelahanka Air Force Base, expressed his displeasure in a recorded video talk with the media.
For one thing, Tejas is not supported by a locally available aero engine as it has to come from General Electric of the US. It is this dependence on foreign technology and engines that causes years of delay in HAL delivering the aircraft.
“You have to alleviate (IAF’s fleet shortfall) and make us more confident. At the moment, I am just not confident of HAL, which is a very wrong thing to happen,” the Air Chief is seen saying in a video recorded on Monday.
He said HAL had given assurance of the Tejas Mk1As getting ready before the start of Aero India 2025. But what he got to fly was not the promised aircraft. “It cannot happen just by change of one software or by looks. When the weapons come and the capability comes, then it is Mk1A.”
IAF, he said, has given all the required inputs, but HAL lacks the sense of urgency. People are working within their own silos, without looking at the larger picture. Stealth fighters have to be provided when they are in need, not 10 years later, when stealth is irrelevant, he pointed out.
He called for a drastic change in the way the state-owned defence major functions.
Making IAF wait for another 10-15 years for HAL to be able to make its own stealth fighters is denying it access to stealth fighters, he said, adding that IAF’s requirements for stealth fighters is based on current threat perception. Adversaries need to be deterred now, not 15 years later.
Self-reliance in defence is crucial, but it must be pursued with pragmatism, not by misplaced passion, which is equal to compromising national security, the Chief of Air Staff pointed out.
