Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane on Friday inaugurated the third production line of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) set up by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) at Nashik in Maharashtra.
He also handed over 10 Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft repaired and overhauled (ROH) by HAL to the Indian Air Force.
“The new production line will enable the company to enhance LCA-MK1A production capacity from 16 to 24 aircraft per year. HAL’s Nashik Division has achieved peak overhaul capacity of 20 Su-30 aircraft per year despite having supply chain issues in current geopolitical situations,” C. B. Ananthakrishnan, Chairman and Managing Director, HAL, said.
HAL has already set up two LCA manufacturing lines in Bengaluru.
The Signal Out Certificate (SOC) of the 100th ROH aircraft was handed over by Saket Chaturvedi, CEO (MiG Complex), to Air Vice-Marshal Sarin.
HAL’s Nashik division set up the Su-30MKI ROH facility in 2014. Having gained experience from manufacturing the MiG-series and Su-30MKI aircraft and the subsequent overhaul of the MiG-series aircraft, HAL successfully mastered the technology with valuable support from the IAF, regulatory bodies and private industries, HAL said in a statement.
HAL plans to reduce the dependency on original equipment manufacturer (Russia) by indigenising majority of components required for ROH within the next three to five years, it added.
In February 2021, the Defence Ministry signed a ₹48,000-crore deal with HAL for 83 LCA-Mk1A jets. As per the contract, HAL will deliver the first three aircraft in 2024 and 16 aircraft per year for the subsequent five years.
