BANGALORE: India‘s lone, state-run aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has got delivery of the first front fuselage of the indigenous ‘TEJAS‘ Light Combat Aircraft‘s Final Operational Clearance variant from the private sector city-headquartered Dynamatic Technologies Limited.

“Dynamatic has built the first front fuselage for the FOC version of the ‘TEJAS’ Light Combat Aircraft. This is the first time a complex fuselage section for a supersonic fighter aircraft has been built by a private sector company,” Dynamatic Technologies Limited’s statement said today.

The completion of the first front fuselage was witnessed by HAL Chairman and Managing Director R. Madhavan and addressed by India’s Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar from a virtual conferencing platform.

“I am extremely happy and honoured to join in this historic occasion, when the first front fuselage of LCA has been handed over to HAL. I would like to heartily congratulate Dynamatic and HAL TEJAS team, who have made this joint partnership greatly successful,” Dr Ajay Kumar said at the event.

“I think this is the model for PSU (Public Sector Undertaking) and private industry partnership in defence and aerospace sectors. We hope that this example will hold good stead for several other partnerships by HAL and other PSUs as well.”

Dynamatic has been a preferred production partner for HAL for over three decades on all their major platforms.

“The future generations of TEJAS will continuously grow and we continue to see this an an evolutionary journey, which will take India to newer heights in the fighter jet aircraft segment,” Dr Ajay Kumar said.

“Dynamatic has done it again by delivering the first front fuselage of TEJAS. The TEJAS program has a requirement of 20 aircraft sets a year and will grow with Mk2 and AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft),” Madhavan said in his remarks on the occasion.

“Dynamatic is a known and reliable supplier for HAL, and we will also look for opportunities on the trainers and UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) platforms.”

In his comments, Dynamatic Technologies chief executive officer and managing director Dr Udayant Malhoutra said his company has been privileged to be a production partner of HAL and the Ministry of Defence for three decades now.

“The industrialisation of TEJAS has gone through many upgrades during the build process,” Malhoutra said.

“This is the FOC version with a mid-air refuelling probe, and is a tremendous success story both for indigenous defence production, and for public-private-partnership with HAL.”

Our Bureau