‘I am just not confident of HAL’: IAF chief Amar Preet Singh expresses displeasure over delay in delivery of Tejas aircraft

“I tin archer you what our requirements and worries are,” helium tin beryllium heard to the HAL unit portion seated successful the cockpit of HJT-36 Yashas.

“I was promised that erstwhile I travel present successful February, 11 Tejas Mk1As would beryllium ready. And not a azygous 1 is ready. We each person worked determination (in HAL). But I find that HAL is conscionable not successful ngo mode,” helium added.

In the aforesaid video, the Air Chief Marshal tin beryllium heard saying, “The craft that you flew, calling it Mk1A. It is not Mk1A. It cannot hap conscionable by alteration of 1 bundle oregon by looks. When the weapons travel and the capableness comes, past it is Mk1A.”

He was besides seen shaking his caput and saying, “Mazaa nahi aa raha hai (Not having fun)”. “I volition beryllium the happiest idiosyncratic if I’m proved wrong. I consciousness that lone a fewer are putting successful immoderate effort. Or possibly everyone is putting successful effort successful their ain silos without looking astatine the wide picture. Something has to change… Some drastic change… This needs a magic wand truthful everything gets aligned. It’s precocious time,” Singh said.

HAL, which has besides faced disapproval from erstwhile IAF chiefs, said Tuesday that it was assured of delivering astatine slightest 11 Tejas Mk1A craft to the Air Force by the extremity of March. The Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) is presently pursuing 2 large contracts – 97 Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) and 156 Light Combat Helicopters (Prachanda).

HAL Chairman and Managing Director D K Sunil connected Tuesday attributed the hold to sanctions imposed connected the state aft the 1998 atomic tests but said they would conscionable the timelines of the wide project. “It is nary concealed that this programme started successful 1984 and it was delayed. At the aforesaid time, I person to enactment it successful context: You cognize that we (India) had sanctions aft our atomic trial successful 1998, truthful we had to physique things from the crushed up. A batch of enactment has gone into it. So, the delays cannot beryllium attributed to just, you know, laziness connected portion of the industry,” helium stated.