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Technical and cost problems stall India's LCA
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RAHUL BEDI JDW Correspondent
New Delhi
India's
17-year-old Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, delayed by more than
a decade, continues to be plagued by serious technical uncertainties and
cost overruns, according to India's Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
A new CAG report states that the LCA's development by the Aeronautical Development Agency, which is funded by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, is "beset with delays for almost every vital component of the aircraft".
The project cost has quadrupled from Rs5.60 billion ($129 million) to Rs21.88 billion for the development phase with the production phase still awaiting clearance. The unit cost of each LCA assessed at Rs100 million in 1985 had increased to between Rs800 million and Rs850 million, according to the CAG.
The CAG report added that the delay in the LCA's development had "compelled" the Indian Air Force to seek interim measures to cover the shortfall of aircraft by upgrading around 125 MiG-21bis fighters for Rs21.35 billion. The LCA was originally expected to begin replacing the MiG-21s, which form the backbone of the IAF, by the late 1990s. The MiG-21 upgrade being undertaken in Russia is itself two years behind schedule.
The report said that development of the LCA's airframe; its multi-mode radar developed jointly by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment; its flight control system; and the local Kaveri engine by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment are all behind schedule.
It added there is "no amount of certainty about their expected date of satisfactory development and final cost".
Last month the LCA technology demonstrator (TD-1), which completed its first round of taxi trials at Bangalore last April, again failed to make its test flight, some 20 months behind schedule, despite assurances by Dr A J P Abdul Kalam, principal scientific adviser to the government. Official sources said it would be several months before it can be test flown as it is presently undergoing low-speed taxi trials and flight-control systems integration.
The first two LCA prototypes will be powered by US General Electric F404-FJ23 engines despite protests from the US government after Washington imposed sanctions on India for its 1998 nuclear tests. In 1986 India bought 11 engines for Rs6.62 billion for the prototype LCAs.
The US engine will ultimately be replaced by the locally-developed Kaveri, which has undergone extensive testing in Russia (Jane's Defence Weekly 2 September 1998).