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In defence of Rafale, Air Chief questions HAL’s ability to meet deadlines
The NDA government’s deal in 2015 with the French government 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.
Air Force Chief BS Dhanoa on Wednesday questioned the ability of state-owned plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s ability to deliver fighter jets on schedule, detailing the time overrun is several crucial programmes including the Sukhoi- 30s, Jaguars, Mirage-2000s and the Light Combat Aircraft.
“In the Sukhoi-30... (HAL) is three years behind. 25 are yet to be delivered. In Jaguar Darin III, we are six years behind. In the LCA (initial operational clearance configuration), we are five years behind and in Mirage-200 upgrade, we are two years behind,” Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said.
He was responding to questions on a September 20 HT report in which former HAL chairman T Suvarna Raju had said HAL could have built Rafale fighters in India had the government managed to close the original negotiations with Dassault Aviation for 126 fighters.
“I am grateful to HAL for the support it provided to Exercise Gagan Shakti. As far as other issues are concerned, there has been a slight lag in HAL’s delivery schedule,” he said at his customary press conference ahead of IAF Day on October 8.
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.
“Whether the IAF is happy or unhappy with HAL is for internal debate. It is not a subject of public debate,” Dhanoa said. He said the original negotiations for 126 jets had hit an impasse and couldn’t be translated into a contract and the government took a “bold step” and ordered 36 jets. He also defended the deal to purchase Rafale fighter jets from France, calling the aircraft a “game-changer”.
The government and the Congress have been trading charges over the controversial Rs 59,000-crore purchase almost every day.
Dhanoa said the 126 jet talks had hit an impasse.
“How can you go ahead for the 126 purchase when the main issue of transfer of technology and manufacturing of aircraft is not sorted out,” said Dhanoa.
The earlier deal fell through because Dassault could not guarantee that HAL would deliver the aircraft it was assembling on time. There was a huge disparity between the time Dassault thought it should take HAL to make the planes in India, and the time HAL said it would take.
Dhanoa questioned the ability of state owned plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s ability to deliver fighter jets on time, detailing the time overrun is several programmes including the Sukhoi 30s, Jaguars, Mirage 2000s and the Light Combat Aircraft.
The former HAL had last month told HT that “when HAL can build a 25-tonne Sukhoi-30, a fourth-generation fighter jet that forms the mainstay of the air force, from raw material stage”, HAL’s capability could not be questioned. “Then what are we talking about? We could have definitely done it (licence produced the Rafale jets),” Raju, who retired on September 1, had told HT.
