IAF TOP OFFICIALS TO HOLD TALKS WITH HAL

NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force brass will hold talks with top Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) officials on issues of production and upgradation of aircraft at the IAF commanders’ conference, amid questions being raised about the state-run plane maker’s capabilities against the backdrop of the Rafale jet deal.

Indigenisation and design and development of aircraft and other equipment will also be discussed at the two-day biannual conference that began on Thursday, an IAF spokesperson said. Last week, IAF chief BS Dhanoa questioned the ability of HAL to deliver fighter jets on schedule, detailing the time overrun in several crucial programmes including the Sukhoi-30s, Jaguars, Mirage-2000s and the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). Dhanoa was responding to questions on a September 20 report in Hindustan Times in which former HAL chairman T Suvarna Raju had said that HAL could have built Rafale jets in India had the government managed to close the original negotiations with Dassault Aviation for 126 fighters.

The NDA government’s decision to enter into a government-to-government deal with France to buy 36 Rafale warplanes was announced in April 2015 with the deal signed a little over a year later. This replaced the UPA regime’s decision to buy 126 Rafale aircraft, 108 of which were to be made in India by HAL using parts imported from France.