New Production Plant inaugurated at HAL

The Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh, has inaugurated a new plant for the production of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). The plant was inaugurated at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru. This plant will double the production of India’s indigenous fighter jet – LCA Tejas.

Key Facts

• The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has got an order of Rs 48,000-cr from the armed forces.
• This is going to be the biggest indigenous defence procurement that will give a boost to the Indian aerospace sector.
• The minister also highlighted that India will reach its target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore in the defence manufacturing soon.
• This is the first time that Indian private players have joined hands to produce the aircraft wings and fuselage.

About LAC Tejas production Plant

• The newly inaugurated LCA Tejas production plant is spread in an area of 35 acres.
• The plant will help in doubling the production of LCA Tejas to 16 aircraft per year in order to complete the Air Force order of 83 jets.
• The project of completing the order of 83 jets will include many public and private sector players.
• It is expected that the project will create 5,000 primary jobs in the private sector.
• The production unit of the HAL will also generate employment for 500-600 people.

About HAL Tejas

It is an Indian single-engine, fourth-generation and multirole light fighter. The fighter is designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and the Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It has been designed for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. The LCA was officially named as “Tejas” in 2003.

Features of Tejas

It has a tail-less compound delta-wing configuration comprising of a single vertical stabilizer. The fighter integrates the technologies like relaxed static stability, multi-mode radar, fly-by-wire flight control system and integrated digital avionics system. It is the smallest and lightest in its class. Tejas is better than its foreign equivalent. It is indigenous and cheaper as compared to its foreign variants.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2021