HAL receives first set of wings for Light Combat Aircraft Mk1A from L&T

The first set of wing assemblies for Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A, produced by Larsen & Toubro, was handed over to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, the Ministry of Defence said in an official statement.

Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar attended the event virtually, as General Manager (LCA Tejas Division) M Abdul Salam received the assemblies on behalf of HAL from the Precision Manufacturing and Systems Complex unit of L & T.

In his address on Thursday, the Secretary (Defence Production) commended the efforts of HAL and L & T towards achieving self-reliance. He hailed HAL for spearheading collaboration with different private sector partners, nurturing them and ensuring enhanced capability. He expressed confidence in meeting the requirement of the production target for LCA Tejas. He called for expanding horizons and focusing on reducing dependency on other countries.

Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of HAL DK Sunil, who was present during the handing over, termed it as a testament to years of dedicated hand-holding and a shared commitment to excellence from HAL and L & T. "HAL is working with suppliers, both large and SMEs, as an initiative towards achieving Aatmanirbharta in the aerospace and defence sector. HAL has effectively built a parallel aircraft structural assembly line in the private sector, which will help in capacity augmentation of the LCA Tejas program," he said.

Senior Vice President and Head of L & T Precision Engineering and Systems Arun Ramchandani said L & T is set to supply four wing sets annually, with plans to scale up production to 12 sets per annum through advanced assembly processes and automation, he added.

To date, the LCA Tejas Division has received structural modules of Air Intake Assemblies from Lakshmi Machine Works, Rear fuselage assembly from Alpha Tocol, Loom Assemblies from Amphenol, Fin & Rudder Assemblies from Tata Advanced Systems, Centre Fuselage Assembly from VEM Technologies and Wing Assemblies from Larsen & Toubro for the LCA Mk1A.

On Monday (July 15), India received the second GE-404 engine from the US for the LCA Mark 1A fighter jet aircraft program. The engine has been received by the Public sector firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and it is expected to receive 12 more GE-404 engines by the end of this financial year.

The engines will be fitted on the LCA Mark 1A fighter jets. The delivery of the engines had been delayed by more than a year due to supply chain issues faced by the American engine manufacturing firm.

The Indian Air Force has placed orders for 83 LCA Mark 1A fighter jets and a proposal to buy 97 more of these planes is at an advanced stage after the clearance from the Defence Ministry, officials said.