IAF troubles at HAL

The loss of two Indian Air Force aircraft at the hands of Pakistan Air Force and subsequent capture of a pilot in February this year has greatly upset the ranks and file of the Indian Air Force. The officers and airmen in their private conversations admit the failure of the service viz-a-viz the PAF. Then came the verification by a top US publication that India had not downed a Pakistani F-16 was all the more upsetting. Despite the claims of the Indian Air Force, the veterans of IAF and officers within the service know that they have been unable to deliver -- more so when the world media and think tanks ridiculed the Indian claims that they had hit an alleged JeM training camp in Balakot. The Mirage 2000s and their Israeli loads were not up to the mark.

Further, the IAF troubles at the hands of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) continue. HAL is the only aviation company of India in which the IAF has great stakes. According to a senior former Indian Air Force officer, HAL announced on March 31, 2019 that the 16th Tejas fighter was ready for delivery to the Indian Air Force. Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur, however, wrote: “Media reports have highlighted how the IAF has repeatedly pointed out to the MoD the below-par work of HAL many a time in servicing of aircraft to meet production targets. Ask any IAF pilot who has gone to HAL to accept an aircraft rolled out by it, and the litany of un-serviceabilities and snags necessitating repeated air tests before final acceptance will flow; and this is true not only for overhauled aircraft, but also brand-new ones. The delay in acceptance sometimes extends eight to nine months, necessitating many more flights (sometimes 10 plus) than only two or three, which should suffice if the workmanship is as per standards.”

The Indian air marshal adds: “There are three reasons for this. First, a lack of accountability in the first three quarters to meet quarterly production figures. No one is punished for the delay. Second, the resultant increased workload in the last quarter, especially as March 31 approaches, coupled with flexible work ethics results in overtime work — and payment of course! So, substandard work ensues, else why the repeated and enhanced number of acceptance flights? And last, but more importantly, a degradation in ethics and morals to claim kudos for a job not well done and not on time; when such scruples are scuppered in an aviation company, we are asking for trouble.”

According to Indian media, HAL is beset by execution delays. After 12 years of awarding, HAL is still executing its first order of 20 aircraft (Tejas light combat aircraft). Work on the second order of 20 aircraft has not started for more than seven years, as final operational clearance is awaited.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman admits the Russian Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft, which is produced under licence in India by the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as the Su-30 Mki, is sometimes considered more expensive than the Sukhois produced in Russia. “Sometimes it is felt that the Sukhoi that is produced in India is far more expensive than the Sukhoi produced in Russia. This all stands out to say that more help is to be given to HAL. Their capacity, skills, cutting down on overheads, all this has to happen,” she recently said at a press meet at the Air Force Station in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, French Dassault Aviation has refused to work with HAL on Rafale, saying that estimated man-hours to produce aircraft at HAL were three times what were taken at Dassault.

HAL thus has been blamed for poor quality of overhaul of engines, ground flame outs, poor quality of overhaul, failure of 4th stage compressor disk of R-29 engine of MiG-27 aircraft, fatal accidents of Avro aircraft, Jaguar accidents due to failure of hydraulic system, recent loss of Mirage 2000 and for overall unsatisfactory performance. Thus IAF pilots deal with HAL products with great deal of trepidation and fear.