New Delhi, February 1: Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa on Thursday during an event in Delhi clarified that the Indian Air Force (IAF) had not changed parameters for the Tejas aircraft. While taking a dig at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) said that the IAF’s efforts to support the state-owned manufacturer had adversely affected the fighting capabilities of the force. The Air Force Chief further added that the force had made concessions for the HAL, but the enemy would not make such concessions in the battlefield. Defence Budget 2019: Piyush Goyal Allocates Whopping Rs 3 Lakh Crore, Attacks UPA Over OROP.

The Air Chief Marshal slammed the state-owned organisation for not being able to supply the 20 Tejas aircraft which was ordered by the force in 1985. The air chief said, “The IAF had sought first 20 LCA Tejas aircraft as per requirements issued in 1985. Even then, the HAL has been able to manufacture only 10 fighter jets of these 20.”

At present, two contracts have been signed between IAF and HAL for the LCA one for the procurement of 20 Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) standard aircraft and another for 20 Final Operational Clearance (FOC) standard aircraft. Till now only 10 Tejas aircraft are in operation in the force. HAL was expected to provide rest 10 (IOC) aircraft last year. These 40 aircraft (20 IOC and 20 FOC) will be Tejas Mark 1. In December 2017, Defence Acquisition Council had cleared procurement of 83 LCA Tejas Mark 1A. out of these 83 fighter jets 10 will be trainer aircraft.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 01, 2019 05:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).