HAL will be manufacturing LCA MKII
Rohan Ramesh
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on February 21 held a press briefing at Aero India 2019. Chairman R. Madhavan was present and briefed the media along with the rest of the board of directors.
During the presser, Madhavan told the media that HAL was looking forward to manufacturing the LCA MKII and possibly AMCA in the future. Presently, the AMCA is on the drawing board and Aeronautics Development Agency (ADA) is responsible for the design.
Speaking on the issue of delicate financial position, director of finance C.R. Ananthakrishnan remarked that HAL’s order books were full for the near future. When asked about declining capabilities, Madhavan shot the statement down saying HAL has more than capable abilities.
Madhavan added that HAL was expecting an order for another squadron of Su-30MKI to keep the production line up and running. He also clarified that now that FOC had been achieved for the LCA, production could be scaled up to 16 aircraft. Director (Engg and R&D) Arup Chatterjee added that production could ultimately be scaled up to 24 aircraft a year with help from private players.
Talking about the LCA MK1a, Madhavan said that HAL was yet to sign the contract with the Indian Air Force (IAF). He said that the IAF was looking to procure up to 83 LCA Tejas MK1a. He said that the next logical step would be to pursue the LCA MK2 version.
Chatterjee also reiterated there would be no Limited Series Production or Series Production aircraft for the LCA MK1a. He said the conversion would be carried out in the same manner as any other upgrade.