Indigenous fighter jet TEJAS and Sukhoi Su-30MKI flying together during an exercise

Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Saturday said the IAF has indigenised more than 60,000 components in the last two to three years. He also said the Air Force cannot rely on foreign OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) for repair and overhaul maintenance activities and that it has to be done in-house.

The IAF chief was speaking with reporters on the sidelines of a program held in the Bhonsala Military School in Nagpur.

Queried on tracing the wreckage of a transport aircraft of Indian Air Force in the Bay of Bengal off the Chennai coast, the Air Chief Marshal said, "Unfortunately, it took so long but finally we at least got the technology to (explore) deep sea and locate such things in seabed".

"We are grateful to the Ministry of Ocean and Earth Sciences for facilitating this and to be able to discover this wreckage. It brings closure to a long pending sad accident".

The wreckage of an IAF transport aircraft has been located at a depth of around 3.4 km in the Bay of Bengal, nearly seven-and-a-half years after the plane with 29 personnel on board went missing, as per the defence ministry.

When asked about the indigenisation of Base Repair Depots (BRDs), the IAF chief said, "All our BRDs have been opened up to all the industries to come and take a look as to where industries can pitch in into the work that has been done, not only in BRDs but all the Air Force units".

"We have indigenised more than 60,000 components in the last two or three years. We have realised we cannot rely on foreign OEMs for repair and overhaul maintenance activities. We have to do it in-house," he added.