India built not just an aircraft but entire industry
Ideally, the handover of the first indigenously built light Combat Aircraft, Tejas, to the Indian Air Force last week should have been a red-letter day for the Armed Forces and the country's defence manufacturing industry. But while all stakeholders deserve a round of applause for taking the project to its logical conclusion, the inordinate delay in delivery and the consequently hefty price tag, unfortunately, dampen the mood to some extent.
Conceptualised in the 1980s, the project took more than three decades to come to fruition for several reasons — from the usual bureaucratic and political bottlenecks to alleged interference from foreign powers. In the intervening years, aviation and defence technology made significant advances. This, in turn, necessitated several revisions of the original design, which is also why Tejas is still a few steps away from the finish line.
The Indian Air Force has insisted that the multi-role aircraft come fitted with a particularly Russian gun and long-range missiles and also have mid-air refuelling capabilities and better electronics and software. It is only after these have been integrated that Tejas will get the final clearance for induction into the Air Force.
But while the Tejas's progress at a snail's pace all these years gives us ample reason to grumble, we must not let that overshadow the positives that the project has generated for the future. Upon being commissioned, it will replace the ageing MiG23 fleet, and the Air Force can surely do with the Tejas's superior design and manoeuverability.
More importantly, the Tejas gives a tremendous boost to India's defence manufacturing industry. Critics will, of course, point out that the Tejas with its American engine (the Kaveri engine project was scrapped) is not a fully indigenous project. They are correct but let us not forget that at the time Tejas was conceptualised, India's aerospace industry was non-existent. In the course of building the Tejas from scratch, India has produced not just one aircraft but created an entire eco-system.
This includes setting up the infrastructure for the aerospace industry (such as National Flight Testing Centre), upgrading laboratories of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, and bringing other public sector units involved in defence manufacturing up to mark. As part of a domino effect, the project has also helped private players in the field come of age and motivated academic institutions to improve their game.
And all this is separate from developing the basic knowhow for Tejas. The development of such eco-systems is especially important if India wants to stop importing its guns and planes, ships and tanks, and use ones that are produced at home without affecting its fighting capabilities. In this context, the Tejas project may also serve as a landmark in the Modi Government's flagship Make in India programme which has a strong defence manufacturing segment. In fact, the aircraft's relatively low selling price makes it a perfect fit for cost-conscious markets.