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DEFENCE:
WESTERN COAST
This
is Only the Beginning
The
IAF though wasn't taking chances and had already pushed through backup
options to stave off any deficiency caused by the delay in the LCA's induction
into its fleet. Apart from upgrading 125 of its MIG 21 aircraft at a cost
of Rs 2,135 crore, it has already picked up 40 Su Mk30 fighters from Russia
for Rs 2,188 crore. It has also signed an agreement for licensed production
and technology transfer of another 100 Su-30 aircraft that could cost
around Rs 10,000 crore. The IAF is still keen to pick up the LCA. After
congratulating the team, Tipnis cautioned, "The pendulum of Indian
emotion should not move from one of acute scepticism to one of euphoria
as this was only the beginning."
Meanwhile,
employees of the ADA, the pivotal institution of the project, burst crackers
at the headquarters when Harinarayana entered his office. He had taken
over as LCA's director way back in 1986 under troubled conditions and
at the relatively young age of 44. He recalled with a chuckle: "They
couldn't find another murga (chicken) to head it." For years Harinarayana
struggled to knit the country's fractious aeronautics community and had
to build facilities virtually from scratch. It was one of the reasons
why the project took so long. Another reason was that the government decided
that much of the technology for the LCA project should be developed in
India itself. Barring a little "hand holding" by some US and
European firms, the team did much of its work on its own. Roddam Narasimha,
director, National Institute of Advanced Studies, who was chairman of
the committee that reviewed the LCA in 1990, acknowledges: "Despite
the hiccups it is an extraordinary achievement because making an aircraft
is a complex business."
Sanctions
by the US after the Pokhran tests in 1998 jeopardised such critical technologies
as flight control systems and the team lost time mastering it themselves.
But the result is that ADA along with its major partners of the project
such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), National Aerospace Laboratory
and the Aeronautical Development Establishment have built some of the
country's most advanced technology units to support the project. After
the flight a confident Harinarayana said, "The LCA is now a reality.
We have demonstrated that we have the technology to build an extremely
agile and contemporary fighter." His boss Aatre was quick to remind
them of the difficult task that lay ahead. As he told India Today: "We
still have a lot of work to do."
True. While
the LCA's first flight was a major morale booster there is still plenty
to validate. In the next six months, the team plans to make several more
flights to test the aircraft's full capability. Another aircraft is almost
ready and is expected to fly by June. In addition the Government had sanctioned
the building of three more prototypes that would meet production level
standards. In all these have to complete 1,000 hours of flying before
the aircraft becomes operational. Plus there is still the problem of a
suitable aircraft engine for the LCA which is currently using the GE-404
purchased from the US. The Gas Turbine Research Establishment was entrusted
with the task of designing the engine for the LCA. Christened Kaveri,
work on it started way back in 1989 with a sanction of Rs 760 crore. But
the laboratory has struggled to master its complex technology and now
expects to have the engine operational only by next year.
Aatre reckons
the LCA would be operational by 2007. He says he is pressing the Government
to place the order for production of aircraft in advance so that these
could be inducted in sufficient numbers into the IAF soon after. HAL Chairman
C.G. Krishnadas Nair is already readying the public-sector giant to take
up the task. "The LCA is HAL's future," he says.
However,
aeronautical experts such as Dr S.R. Valluri, ADA's first director-general,
are sceptical that the deadline would be met. Valluri points out that
the aircraft still has to prove key parameters such as its manoeuvrability,
rate of climb and acceleration and fears that by the time it is inducted
it may be too costly for the IAF to buy and much of its technology dated.
Others like retired Air Marshal Kapil Kak, deputy director, Institute
for Defence Studies and Analyses, differ and feel that even by 2012 the
LCA would be more than a match for anything that China and Pakistan could
come up with. He says, "In a country that couldn't make a scooter,
we have come up with a Rolls-Royce." They are now keeping their fingers
firmly crossed that the LCA shouldn't become a white elephant.
-with
Stephen David
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METRO TODAY
As
the Government brings in more people and mops more money in taxes, it
must be seen to be rewarding those who come forth and pay up, writes India
Today Associate Editor V. Shankar Aiyar in 