Defence Minister inaugurates HAL’s second LCA plant, calls LCA pride of India
Bengaluru, NFAPost: The Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the second plant of HAL’s LCA Division here on Tuesday and appreciated the efforts made by HAL to increase the production capacity of LCA which is going to be the backbone of IAF fighter fleet in years to come.
The inauguration of the second plant will help HAL deliver 16 aircraft in a year to the Air Force. The programme will catalyze the aerospace ecosystem in Bengaluru and would enable India to be an epitome in Prime Minister’s vision for ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
The minister said HAL’s new LCA facility is an example of how ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ is shaping and HAL deserves the largest indigenous order of 83 LCA Mk-IA.
Security issues
“LCA is pride of India and sends the right message to others that India can make fighters of class in-house. The fighter is superior in many ways when compared to others fighters in its category besides being cost effective. I compliment HAL for working through the Covid times and bringing out this facility,” said Rajnath Singh.
He also highlighted the fact that the company has a lot of talent and more orders should come in its way in future. “We cannot depend on others on security issues and therefore will make HAL stronger, whatever it takes,” he added.
Defence Production Secretary Raj Kumar said HAL has taken timely steps proactively to set up the facility well ahead of receiving the order.
Expressing confidence on the PSU defence major’s capabilities, HAL Chairman and Managing Director R Madhavan HAL said the Defence Minister’s visit is a great moral booster to HAL.
“The phase -1 of the facility getting ready on 35 acres of land will enable HAL to enhance its production capacity to 16 from the current eight aircraft every year,” said R Madhavan.
Productivity improvement
Besides Karnataka Minister For Skill Development Aravind Limbavali, the event also had participation of Air Marshal Sandeep Singh, DCAS, Dr. Tessy Thomas, DG (Aero) and many other senior officials from defence fraternity were present on the occasion.
The state of the art machines such as CNC profilers, 5 axis machining centres etc., for producing technologically challenging, High-pressure fluid cell press machine, Test rigs, specialised facilities for Heat Treatment, special processes and hangars for structural assembly of aircraft are being created in new LCA Complex.
Production tooling and productivity improvement initiatives have also been undertaken by adopting latest simulation software packages under capacity augmentation. Subsequently, in this facility, structural assemblies of LCA Mk1A will be produced to meet the desired delivery rate of as per the Contract.
The government cleared the proposal for procurement of 83 LCA Mk1A aircraft on January 13, 2021, which will be produced in two production lines at Bengaluru with over 500 plus production partners across India. All the 83 aircraft would be delivered to Indian Air Force in the next decade commencing 36 months from contract signing.
