Aero India: Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh Disappointed over Delay by HAL in Delivery of Tejas Mark 1A Fighter Jets
The IAF chief said that he would be the happiest person if he was proved wrong. “Something has to drastically change,”;
�New Delhi:�A controversy has broken during the ongoing Aero India, where in a video the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, is showing his disappointment over delays by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in the delivery of the Tejas Mark 1A fighter jets to the Air Force, which is grappling with a dwindling number of fighter squadrons.
“At the moment I am just not confident of HAL, which is a very wrong thing to happen. HAL is our own company. We all have worked there,” he is heard telling the HAL officials while sitting in the cockpit of an aircraft and checking its functions.
“You are not just in mission mode. Everything is ho jaye ga”.
“I was promised that when I will come here in February, I will see 11 Mark 1A ready, minus the engine. And not a single one is ready,” he is heard telling HAL officials. The Air Chief pointed out that the aircraft which was flown in Aero India was not Tejas Mark 1A.
“The aircraft you flew calling it Mark 1A is not Mark 1A. Mark 1A is when the capability comes in,” said the IAF chief. He said that by changing one software to another or changing the looks does not make the aircraft Mark 1A. “When the weapons come in, when the capability comes in, then it is Mark 1A… Mazaa nahi aa raha hai,” he said.
The IAF chief said that he would be the happiest person if he was proved wrong. “Something has to drastically change,” he added.
The statement comes at a time when the Indian Air Force’s fighter squadrons strength is dwindling and has come down to 30, with two more MiG-21 squadrons set to be retired in 2025. The IAF had placed an order with HAL for 83 Tejas Mark-1A aircraft. The deliveries were to begin in March 2024. But till now, not a single aircraft has been delivered due to delays in getting engines from aerospace giant GE. GE is now expected to start the supply of engines by March 2025.
In support of the indigenous Tejas, Air Chief Marshal Singh and Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Upendra Dwivedi on Sunday had taken to the skies together in the twin-seater trainer older version of LCA Tejas at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru.
