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INTERVIEW

Maybe a couple of years later, LCA will breed another LCA

An interview by INDIA TODAY Principal Correspondent Stephen David.

After India's first test of its indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft, one of the happiest persons was Vasudev K. Aatre, scientific adviser to the defence minister. Aatre, 61, is also secretary, Department of Defence R&D and chairman, Scientific Advisory Committee, apart from holding the post of director-general, Aeronautical Development Agency, Bangalore. At the core of the action, Aatre speaks to India Today Principal Correspondent Stephen David on how he had vowed the LCA would take off within a year of his appointment. It did, one year and five days later. Excerpts from the exclusive interview:

Q. So how does it feel to have the LCA test-flown?
A. How does an expectant father feel? I felt like that. I have been working for over a year with these people and have interacted with them closely. I was 95 per cent confident but still in a new technology there is nothing like confidence. Anything could go wrong. We have done everything we could and should for nothing to go wrong. Still before the plane tilted, my blood pressure shot up and when it turned before landing my BP was normal.

Q. How did the sanctions imposed by the US in 1998 affect the LCA project?
A. The project was delayed by two years.

Q. What were the major challenges in its aftermath?
A. The first major thing was finding fly-by-wire control systems. We had worked closely with an American company but we were told to pack and leave (immediately after the May 1998 nuclear blasts). But we decided to fight it head on, and set up a national team to tackle the issue, both on the software and hardware side.

Q. How does it compare with combat planes abroad?
A. LCA is in a class of its own, price wise and in terms of manouevrability and weapon- carrying potential.

Q. A parliamentary committee criticised the LCA project last month ...
A. I will explain to them, even bring the committee here and show them.

Q. When do you see the induction of LCA aircraft into the forces?
A. By the end of the decade.

Q. How does the timeframe of the LCA project compare with that of similar projects abroad?
A. I am told that normally a fly-by-wire aircraft takes 20 years for induction. We started in 1983, we have spent 16 or 17 years. Maybe we have been delayed by a couple of years. ADA began in 1984, so it is just 16 years. There has been a tremendous amount of saving and technology input.

Q. How does the recent Indo-Russian deal for manufacturing Sukhoi fighters integrate into the picture?
A. Sukhoi's operational requirements are different from the LCAs. These are replacement for the MiG series. There may be some integration in the operational sense. Look at the weight difference. The role itself is quite different.

Q. What is the next plan?
A. This is just the beginning. We have to productionise, get Kaveri [engines] through, get MMR through, the next three or four years. This is going to occupy us. We are looking at induction. We may look at building transport aircraft. Maybe a couple of years later, LCA will breed another LCA. I wanted the LCA to fly within a year of my appointment (December 29, 1999) but I am happy it happened within a year and five days.

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