Air Chief on combat force depletion

Bangalore, Dec 27 (UNI) Depletion of the combat force of IAF will manifest once again even after induction of the Sukhoi-30s, the multirole combat aircrtaft and the light combat aircraft, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi has indicated.

Writing in the inaugural issue of ''plane'' the inhouse magazine of defence aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited he said the depletion of combat force would be faced at the end of the technical life of existing aircraft such as Bison, Jaguar, Mirage, and MIG-29.

''this needs to be addressed at the earliest, with HAL playing a major role'' he added.

He said HAL should take a lead role in the development of a fifth generation fighter aircraft. This should be developed and produced in an international joint venture he said adding that even aviation leaders in the US, Europe and Russia have been forced to collaborate with other countries for such ambitious development projects because of cost implications and technical challenges.

He said the offset policy, which was announced recently was another initiative which would boster business potential for HAL.

Every major defence deal of over Rs.300 crore requires the Original Equipment Manufacturer to offer atleast 30 per cent direct offsets.

With major new inductions and upgradation schemes on the anvil, HAL has business opportunities of over Rs.20,000 crore in the next decade, the Air Chief said. Product support, including repair and overhaul for HAL products could add almost as much to the turnover of HAL in the long term. Thus the business opportunities for HAL were indeed exciting and ''we expect a four to five fold increase in the next decade'' he added.

Advocating full autonomy to all five business groups of HAL in decision making, he said they should even be allowed to compete against each other.

On his dream on HAL he said HAL should play a steller role in ensuing India's place as a global competitor in aerospoace products.

It should enter into partnerships with private sector firms and follow a market style management, independent of bureaucratic control.

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