‘Not a Single Project Completed on Time’: Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh on IAF’s Delivery Delay

Defence affairs analysis

New Delhi: India’s Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh expressed concerns on delivery delays, noting how the Air Force signs contracts knowing full well that there will be such a delay.

“Why should we promise something, which can’t be achieved? While signing the contract itself, sometimes we are sure that it is not going to come up (in time), but we just sign the contract, thinking we will see what to do. Obviously, the process gets vitiated,” the Indian Air Force chief was quoted by Deccan Herald as having said.

The air chief marshal was quoted having said this at the Confederation of Indian Industry annual business summit in New Delhi.

The report notes that even though Air Chief Marshal Singh didn’t identify the project he was talking about, the reference is possibly to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s inability to deliver a combat-ready Tejas light combat aircraft on time. The defence ministry had signed the contract for 73 fighters and 10 trainers at Rs 45,696 crore. Delivery was supposed to be in March 2024.

Earlier this week the Ministry of Defence announced that it would fast-track development of its indigenous fifth-generation fighter via the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme. Air Chief Marshal Singh stated that AMCA project was a “big step” and reflected confidence. But as Rahul Bedi noted in his latest analysis for The Wire, this is not its first brush with such lofty ambitions.

Earlier, Bedi had noted how, following Operation Sindoor, which exclusively involved the Air Force’s combat platforms in executing precision strikes across Pakistan, the clamour for the Indian Air Force to fast-track its long-pending requirement for 114 Multi-Role Fighters Aircraft (MRFA), initiated nearly a decade ago, is expected to gather momentum.

Timeline is a big issue. Not a single project that I can think of was completed on time. This is something, which we have to look at,” Air Chief Marshal Singh was quoted as having said.

The Hindu has noted additionally that he called upon stakeholders to ensure that they did their best on their part as links in the bigger chain at the national level to plug any shortcomings. “Building trust is not required with the armed forces, but retaining that trust depends on a lot of actions… we have to keep reinforcing that trust,” he said.