The Hindu : National : Boeing delaying consultancy for Tejas programme

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Boeing delaying consultancy for Tejas programme

Ravi Sharma

Boeing has stipulated that Tejas should not be sold to another country without U.S. permission
ADA officials find this unacceptable since no U.S.-made equipment is to be fitted on the Tejas

BANGALORE: The Bush administration seems to be dragging its feet over giving the go-ahead to Boeing providing consultancy for the light combat aircraft, Tejas, programme.

The consultancy, offered to the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), which is designing and developing the Tejas), will run for 42 months.

It envisages Boeing, which has sufficient experience on flight test programmes like its F-18 Hornet, providing the ADA with crucial inputs on flight tests that would help in avoiding unnecessary flights, saving costs and shortening of the design and development phases.

Only consultancy: ADA

Though U.S. laws concerning sale/consultancy in areas of defence have to necessarily be cleared by the U.S. Department of State, ADA officials are surprised that the consultancy has run aground. They say it is only in the form of assistance and no equipment is being sought for the Tejas.

Boeing has stipulated that the Tejas should not be sold to any other country without the permission of the U.S. government.

According to senior ADA officials, this stipulation is unacceptable, as the consultancy entails only assistance in flight testing.

Said an official: “We can’t understand why the U.S. government is making a big thing out of something like a consultancy programme in flight testing. It is strange that it is being linked to the possible sale of the aircraft [Tejas]. This does not augur well for the seriousness of American weapons/defence corporation with India.”

When contacted, a Boeing spokesperson in India said that the company would “continue to engage in discussions with the Government of India on how [they] may be able to contribute to the Light Combat Aircraft program.”

The spokesperson did not wish to comment on Boeing’s stipulation, only saying that it was “something best answered by ADA.”

The ADA, which has a firm order for 20 Tejas aircraft from the Air Force and hopes to get an order for another 20, is hoping to obtain initial operational clearance for the aircraft in 2010-11, according to its revised schedule.

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