New Delhi: Weeks after India conducted Operation Sindoor to destroy nine terror hubs in Pakistan and PoK with precise and effective missile strikes, the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief brought up a significant issue on the production of our weapon systems.
Chief of Indian Air Force (IAF) Amar Preet Singh questioned the delay in completion of defence procurements and lamented that most contracts can’t be completed because of delays in production.
Stressing on the importance of speeding up the defence procurement process, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet urged the industry not to make promises it cannot deliver because timeline is a ‘big issue’.
“So, once a timeline is given, not a single project that I can think of has been completed on time. So this is something we must look at. Why should we promise something which cannot be achieved? While signing the contract itself, sometimes we are sure that it is not going to come up, but we just sign the contract,” the Air Force chief said while speaking at the CII Annual Business Summit 2025.
Having publicly expressed displeasure three months ago over the delay in delivery of Tejas Mk1A fighter jets, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet pointed out that none of those 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) jets has been delivered so far by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
HAL was awarded the Rs 48,000-crore contract in February 2021, and deliveries were expected to begin in March 2024.
However, HAL has been affected by slow delivery of engines from General Electric due to supply chain issues faced by the US firm.
“Deliveries of Tejas Mk1 are delayed. The prototype of Tejas Mk2 is yet to roll out. There is no prototype yet of the stealth AMCA fighter,” Amar Preet said at the event in the presence of Defence minister Rajnath Singh.
‘Trust and transparency needed’
The IAF chief called for designing weapon systems in India, urging the Armed forces and the industry to develop trust and transparency.
“We cannot just talk about producing in India, we need to talk about designing. We need to have trust between the forces and industry. We need to be very open. Once we have committed to something, we should deliver. Air Force is trying to do its best to make in India,” he observed.
“In 10 years, we will have more output from industry, but what we need today, we need today. We need to quickly get our act together. Wars are won by empowering our forces,” he said.
The Air Force chief also brought up the changing nature and landscape of warfare thanks to the advent of drone technology.
“The character of war is changing. Every day, we are finding new technologies coming in. Operation Sindoor has given us a clear idea of where we are headed and what we need in future. So a lot of work needs to be done in realigning our own thought processes also, which is already going on,” he said.
