The Hindu Business Line : National policy needed on aerospace activities: Tyagi

The Union Minister for Defence, Mr Pranab Mukherjee (right), and Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi at the international seminar on `Aerospace technologies — Developments & strategies' in Bangalore on Monday. — G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore , Feb. 7

THE country needs to spell out a national policy related to aerospace activities and a Central commission to coordinate R&D efforts of various defence and civil agencies engaged in related projects. Such a move will reduce huge costs and duplication of efforts in the cost-intensive aerospace sector, according to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi.

In spite of the best indigenous projects in civil and defence organisations, the aerospace sector is still largely import-dependent; what the country gets is not always state of the art because politico-economic compulsions of seller countries.

A Central coordinating agency such as an aeronautics commission can help to optimise indigenous development efforts and share the resources of civil and defence bodies working in aerospace activities and whose aims often overlap, he said at the inaugural of the three-day Aero India seminar here on Monday.

There are two such separate commissions for the space and atomic energy sectors.

The IAF was constantly looking for new technology and keeping pace with the best of the world with assets such as the Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft. He listed HAL's advanced light helicopter Dhruv and the intermediate jet trainer and the Indo-Russian cruise missile project BrahMos as examples of Indian capabilities.

The IAF had sought information on multi-role fighter aircraft from four foreign manufacturers as it seeks to add 126 fighters to its fleet, the Air Chief later said at the sidelines of the seminar. These are Dassault Aviation for Mirage 2000-5, Lockheed Martin for the popular F-16s, the Russian MiG Corporation for MiG-29 and the Sweden's SAAB for Gripen.

While the IAF would like its modern aircraft "today," the process to acquire new fighters had just begun and would have to go through various stages before the contenders were evaluated. It would take several years before the next combat planes would be acquired and inducted into service. These were meant to replace the ageing MiG aircraft, the Air Chief said.

Though the indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA), `Tejas', that is under development has made 347 flights since January 2001, it is still at least 10 years away from totally entering service.

A baby of the Aeronautical Development Agency and being produced by the HAL, the LCA is said to be the smallest combat plane. The IAF's last acquisition was made in the late 1990s under a multi-layered deal with Russia for 190 Sukhoi 30s, of which 50 were bought from Irkutsk Aircraft Production Association while HAL is making the rest under licence.

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