The safety record of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is the best in the world, said Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chairman and MD D.K. Sunil, vouching for the multirole light fighter in the wake of the recent crash of the fighter during an aerial display at the Dubai Air Show.
At a recently held security summit, the HAL chairman reiterated that there are absolutely no problems with the indigenous combat aircraft and added that the recent crash was "an unfortunate incident" which will have no bearing on the future of the fighter jet.
He refuted claims that the crash would be a setback for HAL, saying people are free to express their opinions, it is important to understand that whenever there is an indigenous product, there are bound to be some failures or problems. There will always be naysayers, he said.
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"We have built the HTT-40, ground-up trainer. We have built all these helicopters, which are all flying all over the country... Where is the question that the capability is not there, or there is self-doubt? There is no self-doubt in the armed forces or the industry," he was quoted as saying.
Pointing out that as countries evolve and develop their own technology, they go through phases, he said, “We had this 4.5 generation aircraft with the latest capability. It is a resounding success and we should all be proud of it."
He noted that export of the products is a "logical extension" of the capability HAL is building and said exports are an outcome of the outreach of the government of India and HAL.
