HAL assures timely delivery of LCA Tejas Mk1A to Indian Air Force as company gets private-made centre fuselage

At a time when the government is seeking to involve more private players in defence production, VEM Technologies in Hyderabad handed over the first centre fuselage assembly for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1A to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), in what has been hailed as a major boost to India’s indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities.

This is the first time a major sub-assembly for the LCA Tejas is being manufactured by a private Indian company. The handover marked a significant milestone in establishing a fourth production line for the LCA Mk1A, besides the two existing lines in HAL-Bengaluru and one in HAL-Nashik.

The LCA Tejas Division has already received structural modules of air intake assemblies, rear fuselage assemblies, loom assemblies, and fin and rudder assemblies in the Mk1A configuration. HAL plans to extend this outsourcing model to future projects, reinforcing its in-house capacity with the expertise of the private industry players in the country.

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Secretary (Defence Production), Sanjeev Kumar lauded the partnership between HAL and VEM Technologies in accelerating the production of LCA Mk 1A, saying there is a significant growth in defence production at a rate of about 10 per cent annually as well as in defence exports. This would not have been possible without the support of industries and Defence Public Sector Units (DPSUs) like HAL, he said and added that the security and sovereignty of India are paramount and cannot be achieved without attaining self-sufficiency in manufacturing and supply of spare parts to meet the requirements of the armed forces.

Chairman & Managing Director of HAL Dr. D. K. Sunil acknowledged the rapid growth of Tier 1 and MSME suppliers in the production of the LCA Tejas. He assured that with major sub-assemblies underway, HAL will increase the production of the LCA aircraft and ensure timely deliveries to the Indian Air Force.

According to the defence ministry, HAL has built a national aerospace ecosystem by closely supporting private partners and providing critical inputs such as jigs, fixtures, tools, and technical know-how. “This has enabled companies like L&T, Alpha Tocol, Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL), VEM Technologies, and Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW) to produce complex sub-assemblies such as centre fuselages, fuel drop tanks, pylons, rear fuselages, wings, fins, rudders, and air intakes,” a statement from the ministry read.