Rafale procurement to help India set up 2nd production line of combat aircraft: Defence secretary

NEW DELHI: Defence secretary and DRDO chairman Rajesh Kumar Singh said on Sunday that the planned Rafale procurement will help India establish a “second production line” of the combat aircraft even as “indigenous LCA Tejas Mark 1A programme will continue”. He also said that Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is likely to deliver one squadron of LCA MK1A at the end of this year.Speaking at the NDTV Defence Summit, the defence secretary said, “Rafale is a proven aircraft. Bids from MMRA (for 114 Rafale jets) have come from the French side. We have good relations with France. They have agreed to our mandate that they make it in India with significant levels of indigenisation. This would enable us to create a second production line for fighter aircraft in the country, which is why we are going through with it.”However, he clarified that the procurement of additional Rafale aircraft will not come at the expense of India’s indigenous fighter programme. “The indigenous LCA Tejas Mark 1A programme will continue. It will be a spiral development model where we increasingly perfect it, fitting in indigenous radars that are better than global peers alongside indigenous weapons,” Singh said.Giving an update on Tejas Mk1A’s development, the defence secretary said, “HAL has 27 air frames ready, 11 engines from GE have come, other 16 air frames have been fitted with canopy engines and flown. GE has promised four engines per month during this year, so we will get 12 engines in the rest of the year. We will be able to induct at least one squadron of LCA MK1A at the end of the year. Only some residual issues are left. Weapon integration is almost done... with radar, there are still performance-related issues that are being tackled. HAL has promised 24 LCAs every year thereafter. We hope to get 83 LCAs and 97 jets as part of the second order by 2033.”On problems faced by the IAF when he came to the defence ministry, Singh said, “When I first came to the ministry, the Air Force had three major concerns: depleting size of the fighter fleet and multipliers like AEW&C aircraft and refuellers. All three gaps are on the way to being filled. It won’t happen overnight, but once contracts are signed, delivery expectations are locked in.” On the AMCA project, Singh said the first prototype of AMCA will fly in Sept 2028, hopefully”.