Naval version of Tejas under water as decisions stay pending

The naval version of Tejas, the indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA), is stuck in a limbo due to delay in decision-making, pushing the project 3-4 years behind schedule.

An official close to programme, who did not want to be named, said that despite a planned sanction of over Rs 600 crore by the Indian Navy to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for design and development of the carrier-borne LCA, the project is languishing “due to delays in decisions by the authorities concerned.”

“It’s been more than a year since foreign aircraft-makers have responded to the request for proposal (RFP) of DRDO’s aeronautical development agency (ADA) for the naval variant of Tejas, but ADA has yet to take a decision on selection of one of them,” said the official.

The aircraft vendors who responded to the RFP include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Saab, Dassault, Eurofighter and MiG. They will help ADA to carry out the feasibility study and modify the fighter.

Apparently, development of the aircraft is getting delayed because the L1 (lowest tender) identified by ADA — Lockheed Martin — does not have the approvals and licenses to carry out the “full gambit of work identified.” Also, according to an insider, there were many gaps in the proposal submitted by Lockheed.

“Owing to these shortcomings, which had emerged after discussions with the L1 (Lockheed), additional time (six months) was granted to them for obtaining the necessary approvals (from the US government) and revising the area of work so as to cover all the aspects,” said the source.

That period lapsed in September 2009, but the government has not approached the second lowest bidder as stated in the existing rules.

“Normally, only a period of 60- 90 days is given but in this case, initially a period of two months was granted verbally, followed up by another three months. It is not clear as to what ADA plans to do now or who is bearing the cost of this delay,” said the source.

When contacted, P S Subramanyam, programme director at ADA, said he could not provide details on the bidding process of the project as it was “classified information.”

“It (RFP) is still under consideration and the project is going on,” Subramanyam told DNA.

Another industry source, who did not want to be named, said the LCA project of the Indian Navy has been put on the backburner for now as there was no urgent requirement for it.

“They (the navy) are trying to get proven aircraft instead of concentrating on an experimental aircraft,” he said.

Meanwhile, the navy has floated a request for information (RFI) to global aircraft manufacturers for new generation multi-role combat aircraft to be decked on its Russian aircraft carrier Gorshkov, which has been renamed INS Vikramaditya, or the INS Viraat.

Currently, the Indian Navy fleet consists of Russian MiG 29K and the British vintage Sea Harrier. It has already received four of the MiG29K and will take delivery of 18 others over the next few years.