State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has of late been under fire from different quarters. It has been rapped for inordinate delays in the delivery of Tejas and Sukhoi aircraft to the Indian Air Force. Also, the cancellation of the $20-billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project to acquire 126 fighters from Rafale has been blamed by the political masters on HAL’s incapability to handle such a project. BW Businessworld’s Manish Kumar Jha caught up with HAL CMD R. Madhvan to discuss these issues as well as those pertaining to its future plans.
Excerpts:
What is next that will define HAL?
We intend to pursue three broad strategies to exploit our competitive strengths and grow our business. The first strategies is to expand operations through partnerships or collaboration. Thus, in addition to organic growth through our research, design and development efforts, we have historically relied, and continue to rely, on alliances to gain access to new technologies. We co-develop products with our partners in order to improve the sharing of know-how and reduce risks and time involved in developing new products such as advanced Hawk aircraft.
We also collaborate with our partners to provide product support and services to our customers. We have a joint venture with Safran Helicopter Engines for providing maintenance repair and overhaul services for the Safran TM 333 and our Shakti engines that power HAL-built helicopters. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) comprising NAL, ADA and HAL has been formed to develop the Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA). Apart from foreign OEMs, we are working with leading Indian R&D organisations and institutions such as DRDO laboratories, IITs and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore to achieve self-reliance in aviation.
The second strategy is to diversify through expansion in new growth areas. We have conducted an analysis of our product portfolio and identified opportunities that can become potential revenue lines for HAL. These include opportunities in indigenous aircraft and helicopter aero-engines, helicopters for military and civil roles, UAVs and civil transport aircraft.
We have initiated the design and development of the Hindustan Turbo Fan Engine (HTFE-25), a 25 kN thrust-class turbofan engine, and the Hindustan Turbo Shaft Engine (HTSE-1200), a 1,200 KW shaft power engine. We have also initiated the design and development of UAV of 8-kg class to meet the emerging needs of military, paramilitary, police and civil sectors. We intend to enter the market for larger UAVs with the Rustom-II Medium-Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV which we are jointly developing with Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bangalore. Moreover, given the growth of civil aviation in India, we believe opportunity exists to position Dornier 228 aircraft for civil applications in view of the government’s regional initiative to connect airports in small cities in India.
We also intend to expand the export of our products as well as aero-structures, avionics, spares and services in international markets. Although we continue to focus on selling our products globally, we are specially committed to applying and receiving regulatory approvals for our products to be sold in Latin America, South-East Asia and West Africa, which we believe are high growth markets for our products.
The third key strategy is to develop in-house capabilities to design and develop specialized products. We continuously seek to design, develop and deliver new products to meet our customer’s evolving needs while also upgrading our existing product lines. We are currently pursuing design, development and production of Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT), the HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft, mini UAV, and the HTFE-25 and HTSE-1200 engines.
Could you tell us about the future roadmap for Tejas? Is it itself a potent weapon or a building block for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)?
Given the fighter jet’s long journey, its handing over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2015 was certainly a big moment for Indian aerospace in general and HAL in particular. Tejas, a supersonic fighter jet, is likely to replace the ageing MiG-21 jets, which the IAF plans to phase out eventually. It has been a great journey to build a four and a half generation fighter jet which is comparable to the F-16 and better than MiG-21.
Presently, production of LCA Tejas Mk-I in Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) configuration is under progress at HAL. A total of 20 aircraft are to be delivered to IAF as per IOC contract, out of which nine have been delivered. This will be followed by production of 20 aircraft in Final Operational Clearance (FOC) configuration. Delivery of all these aircraft is likely to be completed by 2022.
Learnings from IOC and FOC-configured LCA Tejas Mk-I is being used in the development of Mk-IA which will incorporate advanced, state-of-the-art systems like Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile, Unified Electronic Warfare System, Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile and upgraded avionics. Proposal for production of 83 such aircraft is with the Ministry of Defence.
26/12/18 Manish Kumar Jha/Business World
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
Excerpts:
What is next that will define HAL?
We intend to pursue three broad strategies to exploit our competitive strengths and grow our business. The first strategies is to expand operations through partnerships or collaboration. Thus, in addition to organic growth through our research, design and development efforts, we have historically relied, and continue to rely, on alliances to gain access to new technologies. We co-develop products with our partners in order to improve the sharing of know-how and reduce risks and time involved in developing new products such as advanced Hawk aircraft.
We also collaborate with our partners to provide product support and services to our customers. We have a joint venture with Safran Helicopter Engines for providing maintenance repair and overhaul services for the Safran TM 333 and our Shakti engines that power HAL-built helicopters. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) comprising NAL, ADA and HAL has been formed to develop the Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA). Apart from foreign OEMs, we are working with leading Indian R&D organisations and institutions such as DRDO laboratories, IITs and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore to achieve self-reliance in aviation.
The second strategy is to diversify through expansion in new growth areas. We have conducted an analysis of our product portfolio and identified opportunities that can become potential revenue lines for HAL. These include opportunities in indigenous aircraft and helicopter aero-engines, helicopters for military and civil roles, UAVs and civil transport aircraft.
We have initiated the design and development of the Hindustan Turbo Fan Engine (HTFE-25), a 25 kN thrust-class turbofan engine, and the Hindustan Turbo Shaft Engine (HTSE-1200), a 1,200 KW shaft power engine. We have also initiated the design and development of UAV of 8-kg class to meet the emerging needs of military, paramilitary, police and civil sectors. We intend to enter the market for larger UAVs with the Rustom-II Medium-Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV which we are jointly developing with Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bangalore. Moreover, given the growth of civil aviation in India, we believe opportunity exists to position Dornier 228 aircraft for civil applications in view of the government’s regional initiative to connect airports in small cities in India.
We also intend to expand the export of our products as well as aero-structures, avionics, spares and services in international markets. Although we continue to focus on selling our products globally, we are specially committed to applying and receiving regulatory approvals for our products to be sold in Latin America, South-East Asia and West Africa, which we believe are high growth markets for our products.
The third key strategy is to develop in-house capabilities to design and develop specialized products. We continuously seek to design, develop and deliver new products to meet our customer’s evolving needs while also upgrading our existing product lines. We are currently pursuing design, development and production of Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT), the HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft, mini UAV, and the HTFE-25 and HTSE-1200 engines.
Could you tell us about the future roadmap for Tejas? Is it itself a potent weapon or a building block for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)?
Given the fighter jet’s long journey, its handing over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2015 was certainly a big moment for Indian aerospace in general and HAL in particular. Tejas, a supersonic fighter jet, is likely to replace the ageing MiG-21 jets, which the IAF plans to phase out eventually. It has been a great journey to build a four and a half generation fighter jet which is comparable to the F-16 and better than MiG-21.
Presently, production of LCA Tejas Mk-I in Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) configuration is under progress at HAL. A total of 20 aircraft are to be delivered to IAF as per IOC contract, out of which nine have been delivered. This will be followed by production of 20 aircraft in Final Operational Clearance (FOC) configuration. Delivery of all these aircraft is likely to be completed by 2022.
Learnings from IOC and FOC-configured LCA Tejas Mk-I is being used in the development of Mk-IA which will incorporate advanced, state-of-the-art systems like Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile, Unified Electronic Warfare System, Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile and upgraded avionics. Proposal for production of 83 such aircraft is with the Ministry of Defence.
26/12/18 Manish Kumar Jha/Business World
0 comments:
Post a Comment