Sanctions led to delay in LCA project: DRDO chief

Facing flak for time slippages in Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas programme, DRDO chief V K Saraswat today attributed the delay to "setbacks" caused by international sanctions and inadequate development of aerospace industry in the country.
Saraswat, who retired today, contended that the DRDO had to start from the "scratch" to indigenously develop the fighter aircraft as the manufacturing base in the country was non-existent.
He said these issues have now been addressed to a large extent and other versions of the combat aircraft can be developed in a short time.
"We had to go through the rigours of development from the scratch where we had to develop the whole range of products. This is not a problem in foreign countries where everything is available whereas we had to develop everything," he told PTI in an interview here.

The DRDO chief said this when asked to explain the delay in the LCA programme which has not fructified even nearly three decades after it was initiated.
His comments came two days after Defence Minister A K Antony criticised the "time slippages" in the project.

Saraswat noted that the project to develop a Light Combat Aircraft was initiated in early 1980s but soon after Missile Transfer Control Regime (MTCR) came into effect in 1988.
"All suppliers cancelled their agreements and European firms also stopped cooperation. When such a situation occurred, we had to do everything ourselves. This was a major setback," said Saraswat, who also held the post of Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister.

This situation continued from 1980 till 2000 when the first aircraft was rolled out, he said.
"Time was taken to overcome the blocks created by MTCR. This is the reason for the longer time taken," he said.