The Hindu : National : 'Complexities in developing LCA may have been underestimated'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 01, 2004

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National

'Complexities in developing LCA may have been underestimated'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 31. The Defence Research and Development Organisation chief, V.K. Aatre, today admitted that his organisation might have underestimated the complexities in developing an indigenous fighter aircraft. The delay in designing and manufacturing the light combat aircraft (LCA) has severely upset the Air Force's modernisation plans and forced the country to import fighter planes to avoid a gap in defence preparedness.

Addressing a news conference before laying down office after over five years as the DRDO chief, Dr. Aatre made similar observations on the organisation's quest to manufacture the aircraft engine (Kaveri) from scratch. "It will take a couple of years. It was more complex than anticipated. However, we have overcome the design issues and are fine-tuning various aspects in the engine. By the end of 2007, hopefully the LCA will fly with Kaveri engines."

Escalating cost

Analysts have said that the three assertions made by DRDO while starting the project in 1983 missed the mark — it is not a totally indigenous project; it failed to enter service by the projected date of 1995, and the cost has escalated several times over the original estimates. The Kaveri engine is still being developed and the current lot of LCA prototypes are based on British and French designs, fitted with American engines and Swedish radars and all armaments will be imported and testing is largely being conducted in foreign laboratories.

Steady progress

At the same time, Dr. Aatre said the LCA project was progressing steadily since the first technology demonstrator too to the skies in early 2001. "We have had over 260 flawless flights. It has come of age and we are looking at obtaining operational flying clearance. The final clearance will take place after two years and induction by the end of the decade. Eight aircraft are being produced very year."

Dr. Aatre confirmed that the Army had started taking deliveries of the 700-km range Agni I and the over 2,000 km range Agni II surface to surface missiles, both capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The DRDO had taken on board Army personnel to familiarise them with techniques during the previous two tests of Agni-I and Agni-II, the last having taken place last Sunday. He declined to answer queries on the number of such missiles being produced and delivered to the Army.

Bi-annual monitoring

He also admitted that the armed forces' negative perception of the DRDO's capabilities was not unfounded. "It is partly correct and we are looking at specific areas" to increase the interface between the designers and user agencies. The DRDO has been successful in looking after the needs of soldiers posted in high altitude areas. After the Kargil report on improving national security, interaction between the DRDO and the military has increased. The Army Vice Chief monitors the progress of the projects on a bi-annual basis.

On a service-by-service basis, Dr. Aatre said, "there is no naval project that the navy does not want to do, the IAF is totally with us on the LCA project and we are developing a contemporary weapon locating radar for the Army. So the general feeling that the soldier feels negatively about us is not totally correct."

Arjun project

Indicating that the main battle tank (MBT) `Arjun' project may be on the verge of missing yet another schedule, he said: "We are speeding up their manufacture to ensure that hopefully all the 124 tanks are supplied to the Army by early 2007 [the target date]."

On the launch of the Agni-III, with a range of over 3,000 km, he said while there were "not many technical issues" to be sorted out, the next DRDO chief would decide the test launch date. "We have to wait for one reason or the other," he added. On futuristic projects, Dr. Aatre said the DRDO was working on a missile defence project and an underwater unmanned vehicle but refused to confirm or deny the project to build a nuclear submarine.

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