New Delhi, 7th March 2007

The status of various defence and military programmes was recently given by the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in  written replies to questions raised in Parliament.

Light Combat Aircraft

Five Tejas (LCA) aircraft are currently being flight tested for Initial Operational Clearance by the Indian Air Force pilots posted at National Test Centre of Aeronautical Development Agency, Ministry of Defence. So far 629 flights accumulating 334 hours have been completed. Twenty aircraft have been ordered by the Indian Air Force as the first lot.

The Light Combat Aircraft, which is multi-role aircraft, employs the same technologies which  exist in other multi-role aircraft in the world. These technologies are digital fly-by-wire flight control system, digital avionics, glass cockpit, composite structure, open system architecture avionics and state-of-the-art sensors and technologies. Its performance is comparable to the other multi-role aircraft in the same class of light - weight combat aircraft.

Development of Advanced Combat Aircraft

The co-development of a Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft has been identified as an important area of cooperation between the Indian and Russian governments. Technical discussions to work out the details are in progress. Efforts are on for negotiations and finalisation of the draft Inter-Governmental Agreement in this regard.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had invited proposals from international partners including Russian helicopter manufacturer for co-development of Multi-role Helicopter (10 tonnes). The Russian side is also interested in bidding for the Multi-role Combat Aircraft of Indian Air Force with MiG 35 aircraft.

Commissioning of INS Shardul in Navy

INS Shardul was commissioned into the Indian Navy on Jan 04, 2007. M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd., Kolkata built the ship in 52 months at the costs of about Rs. 363 crore.

The ship, which displaces a total of 5600 tons, is meant for amphibious landing of men and material. The amphibious ships are normally named after ferocious animals or amphibians, and "Shardul" means "tiger".

Purchase of UAVs

The contracts were concluded with M/s Israel Aircraft Industries, Israel for the supply of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Delivery in respect of some of these contracts has since been completed.

The 30 UAVs inducted so far by the Indian Air Force are engaged in the operational missions of reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. The UAVs were inducted after taking into account all operational, maintenance and survivability aspects. The tactical UAV Nishant was developed indigenously.

Induction of Akash Missiles

The Akash missiles have not yet been inducted in the Air Force. The user trials for the Akash missile system have not been completed.

Deployment of Dhruv Helicopters

A total number of 20 Dhruv helicopters have been inducted into the Indian Air Force so far. One Dhruv helicopter met with an accident on 02 Feb 2007 while practicing for the Aero India Show recently. All such accidents are investigated through a Court of Inquiry and remedial measures are undertaken accordingly.
The procurement of helicopters through Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is done in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract signed by the armed forces. .

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