NEW DELHI: The fast declining fighting squadrons of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is a matter of worry but things can not be “badly off” if the promises made by the Indian aviation major HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), a defence public sector undertaking, can keep their promises, said the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) on Friday.

Chief of Air Staff, on the question about the situation in Eastern Ladakh, said, "We are catching up with the fast-improving infrastructure on the Chinese side."

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said, “It is a known fact that the TEJAS has got delayed; there is no doubt in it. And there is also a promise that the production line will be in place too. If the promise is kept, I think I am sure delays can be caught up. The first aim is not to let our aircraft strength go down as we are reaching the obsolescence of certain aircraft."

"The aircraft should be inducted in parallel so that the number of squadrons remains not below 30. So, the HAL has to keep the promise of producing 24 aircraft per year. They have a third production line in place in Nasik, which is yet to churn out an aircraft," he added.

The HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) manufactures Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) TEJAS. Pointing towards solutions, the Air Chief said, “As far as TEJAS MK-2 and AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft) is concerned, we all need to learn our lessons about what happened over Mk1 and what all have caused the delays. We should make sure that such things are ironed out as it takes time in transfer of technology from design house to production house, even if it is within India.”

The CAS also talked about a collaborative approach, bringing in the private players. "I don’t think we can continue relying on one agency. HAL will have its own limitations in terms of what it can do within a time frame, we need to have private industry chipping in and coming in a big way," he said.

CAS Singh added, "Multi Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) is needed. MK-2 is supposed to make its first flight sometime next year; it is expected to be inducted by 2028; and December 2027 is supposed to be the end of the R&D phase. So if these timelines are met and the MRFA deal is signed simultaneously, I think we are okay. We are not too badly off. But if these timelines are pushed, then we need to look out.”

The IAF is to eventually operate 40 TEJAS, over 180 TEJAS MK-1A, and at least 120 TEJAS MK-2 planes.

The first indigenous TEJAS was inducted in July 2016. The first IAF squadron to induct the TEJAS was No. 45 Squadron, the ‘Flying Daggers’. Over the years, the squadron progressed from vampires to Gnats and then to the MiG-21 Bison before being equipped with TEJAS.

TEJAS is a multirole platform designed to undertake the Air Defence, Maritime Reconnaissance, and strike roles. The TEJAS MK-1A will have updated avionics, as well as an active electronically steered radar, an updated electronic warfare suite, and a beyond-visual range missile capability. The new variant will be capable of firing a number of weapons from increased stand-off ranges.

(With Inputs From Agencies)