The Hindu Business Line : IAF offers to foot vendors' R&D bills for indigenous spares

THE Indian Air Force (IAF) is looking for Indian vendors who can give it some specialised military-grade components and is willing to hand-hold them and foot the bill for the development cost.

Under the indigenisation of the spares programme, the IAF has identified its requirements, smoothened the procedures considerably under a much decentralised, single-window approach and even loosened the purse strings for easy procurements from competent small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

What was tried out in small doses for low-technology items has now become a concerted programme stretching to hi-tech and complex products.

The move has paid good dividends, throwing up a list of 1,000 potential vendors across the country, according to Group Captain V. K. Goel, HQ Maintenance Command at Nagpur. He hopes to add more to the list.

The huge and friendly stall at the Aero India 2005 has laid out the kind of spares IAF is looking for. What it constantly needs are aero-engine components, airborne mechanical components and avionics and electricals, preferably using off-the-shelf technologies. These should be latest and equal the originals functionally without being duplications.

There is a wealth of skills to tap from specialised aerospace-related companies from Bangalore, the aerospace capital and seat of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), National Aerospace Laboratories and the Indian Space Research Organisation.

There are also such SMEs in Nashik, Pune, Chandigarh, Kanpur and Hyderabad, he told Business Line.

According to Group Captain Goel, the need for indigenous sources of spares has grown in recent years because of continuous weaponisation, and in the bargain, it has effectively improved interactions between the IAF and the domestic industry.

The air force, said to have a higher indigenisation bill than the other two wings, now has a separate development cost, out of which various levels from base repair depots up to commanders can now have higher financial powers from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh to foot the development bill for the spare.

It is a win-win scene: defence hardware gets freed from dependence on foreign original equipment manufacturers, who may slap technology control regimes for their vendor industry.

This is a huge cost benefit, as home-made spares cost a tenth of the imported ones. And the industry benefits in quality terms from an exposure to high technology and tough military airworthiness norms for products. Group Captain Goel said there is no bar on these SMEs selling them within the country or abroad, or their cashing in on international outsourcing opportunities. In fact, an export development council has also sprung up for such spares.

The catch: while the need could be for 3.5 lakh items, starting from a pin to avionics, the volume of items required for IAF's military aeronautical maintenance will be much smaller than what an aircraft maker like HAL or technology developer like the Defence Research and Development Organisation need.

The items would have to meet the stringent norms of agencies such as the Centre for Military Airworthiness Certification (CEMILAC).

There would be no technology transfer or original designs, but the base repair depot will share the information in the maintenance manuals.

"We have identified regularly failing parts such as rubber ceiling rings that wear out soon due to quick temperature changes. We want vendors to give us a functionally identical and fitting spare, and we do not want them to duplicate the parts," Group Captain Goel said.

In the last couple of years, IAF has done several studies on its spares and will share the information with potential vendors.

It even offers aviation grade material from its resources and will point out alternative sources. "The challenge," he said, "is to find the right industry candidate."

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