Tejas Source Code Sharing with Private Firms Key to Make 144 Jets Per Year: Expert

Renowned defence analyst Bharat Karnad has issued a clarion call for the Indian government to take decisive action in accelerating the production of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

In his recent column, Karnad, a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, advocates for a bold strategy to break free from India's dependence on foreign military equipment.

Karnad's proposal centers on transferring the Tejas source codes from the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to private sector giants like L&T, Tata, and Mahindra Aerospace.

He further suggests that the government should offer substantial incentives, such as tax holidays, to these companies to establish multiple production lines for the Tejas 1A and subsequent models, as well as the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

The aim is to achieve an annual production rate of 144 Tejas aircraft, fulfilling the entire requirement of the Indian Air Force within three years. Karnad believes this approach will address the chronic delays and bottlenecks that have plagued India's defence manufacturing sector.

By harnessing the capabilities of the private sector and providing the necessary incentives, the government can expedite the production of the Tejas and reduce the nation's reliance on foreign military equipment.

Karnad's call for action comes amidst a leadership transition at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), with Dr. DK Sunil, a seasoned engineer, expected to take the helm.

Karnad highlights the historical challenges faced by HAL, including the underutilization of indigenous designs like the HF-71 Marut, in favor of foreign imports.

He cautions against repeating past mistakes and emphasizes the need for HAL to acknowledge its limitations and collaborate with the private sector to achieve the desired production goals.

The urgency of Karnad's proposal is underscored by the rapid advancements in aerospace technology. With 6th generation combat aircraft on the horizon, India cannot afford to fall behind.

Karnad's vision is to see India emerge as a self-reliant aerospace power, capable of meeting its defence needs and competing in the global market. He believes that involving the private sector and incentivizing production is the key to unlocking India's full potential in the aerospace industry.

 

[Prit]

Engine is bottleneck though. Hope they come soon.

 

[vvgnag6933]

Rightly said. The elected political diaspora cannot sit idle and fein ignorance to the world development. The citizens must understand and elect those members who are inclined to India' s development and leadership and not working for foreign entities. We have already wasted 70 years in that process and this is the time to catch-up. Private sector involvement is a must, if India wants to lead.

 

[Prit]

Rightly said. The elected political diaspora cannot sit idle and fein ignorance to the world development. The citizens must understand and elect those members who are inclined to India' s development and leadership and not working for foreign entities. We have already wasted 70 years in that process and this is the time to catch-up. Private sector involvement is a must, if India wants to lead.

Considering private sector was properly allowed in defence only in 2015, don't expect any big project soon. The politicians were happy with their own profit, didn't care about nation.

 

[Rajesh Kumar Bharti]

Though HAL is my parent organization, I think it's still not geared to mass-produce Tejas. And by the time they deliver the last aircraft it may fall under obsolete category.
I fully agree with Mr. Kernard's approach to involve private sector to produce all sub-assemblies and then HAL should only cater for final assembly and flight testing and deliver it to customer

 

[indiadefenselover]

In defense sector private are poison snakes. Once you let them in they in they will destroy your social fabric and to improve profit they always want war like situation. Unlike China just put passionate people around and improve production line. If still India govt gives for Private vendors then India will break into pieces.

 

[KVS]

I don't know why the source code be shared with anyone. Let the private manufacturers just upload the programs from the discs or even by the DRDO & HAL Officials. After all, this is how all Software developers do.

Yes, I also believe that government should provide purchase guarantees, share in investments, incentives, and so on to ramp up the production after resolving the engine issue!😀

 

[ankitksinghal]

Source code is not bottleneck. Engine is bottleneck. We don't want se source code available on internet, becoz it can happen in our corrupt system...

 

[directorcool]

Hmm! Sharing source code!!! I can only smell something fishy here

 

[Gary]

Mr Karnard has rightly pointed out the need to spread the production of the Tejus series into the private sector. In India we need an annual production capacity of 100 aircraft per year to keep up with the Chinese. With atamnirbharta at the fore we should have had a couple of production lines running by now. Tejus is a past generation aircraft and we need to move on, look where our adversary like China has reached.

 

[gautham]

The so-called security expert has a poor understanding of how tech works. There is no need for sharing any source codes. All the private industry needs to do is build airframes, parts and LRUs as build-to-spec and let ADA flash their proprietary software code into the systems and test them.

 

[PKPRS]

This is the only best option to fasten things up, but HAL allow?.

 

[NSR]

I have been pushing for the induction of a private company to offer competition to HAL so it will reorganize itself based on fear of loss of work to more efficient private companies.

India must do it immediately.

 

[M S Chatterji]

Better idea is to privatize HAL.

 

[sanket]

Question is GE cant supply 16 Engines Annually & plan for 144 Fighter jet production is it possible how 144 Engine comes From ...............???

 

[Akshat]

Question is GE cant supply 16 Engines Annually & plan for 144 Fighter jet production is it possible how 144 Engine comes From ...............???

Real question is, why can't HAL deliver the trainer jets for which engines had been supplied a long time back?

 

[Anant]

Total of 144 aircraft annually? Did Mr. Karnad take the scale of orders necessary for that? Did he take the inevitable supply chain challenges into account?

Aircraft manufacturing isn't as easy as saying "One line can manage 16 aircraft annually, so 10 lines will manage 160."

 

[Instant Karma]

From where they will get engines? GE will not supply the engines so fast that another new Tejas line can be sustained. The present HAL lines are capable of building 32 Tejas for year but GE can only supply 18 Engines per year. Seems that the Bharat Kanard is the fool of the century.

 

[Instant Karma]

Question is GE cant supply 16 Engines Annually & plan for 144 Fighter jet production is it possible how 144 Engine comes From ...............???

144 engines will come from as follows

16 will come from GE as you said.

rest will come from,

as the Adani Ambani TATA Mahindra wants to start their own Tejas manufacturing plant, it should be left to them to procure engines as it is their idea to start new Tejas line. If they can get engines from GE, RR or Safran, which can power Tejas without any problems, than that will be Excellent. It should be left to them to decide. Government should fix a floor price for the Tejas. Any company which can supply the complete Tejas at that price, they are welcome.

if they are not able to do anything and don't want to invest anything, they should not interfere with the operation of HAL. Doing so will be marked as anti national activity.

 

[sunilanalysis]

take inspiration from elon musk spaceX and simply the number of components used, required (locally manufactured under control) to make a fighter jet