{"id":5399,"date":"2022-10-04T12:16:23","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T06:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/55nda.com\/blogs\/anil-khosla\/?p=5399"},"modified":"2024-12-27T18:30:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T13:00:29","slug":"indian-air-force-always-supports-atmanirbharta-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/55nda.com\/blogs\/anil-khosla\/2022\/10\/04\/indian-air-force-always-supports-atmanirbharta-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"299: INDIAN AIR FORCE ALWAYS SUPPORTS ATMANIRBHARTA (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by: Air Marshal M Matheswaran AVSM VM PhD (Retd)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Chairman & President,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Peninsula Foundation<\/span><\/p>\n

Chennai\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The IAF has been an ardent supporter of indigenisation since independence. Indigenisation involves not just design and production alone, as commonly perceived. It has a lot more effectiveness and importance when seen from the perspective of self-sustenance and indigenous solutions. <\/span>These are enumerated below as various examples of success stories:-<\/span><\/p>\n

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– Right after independence the IAF and HAL together, retrieved a fleet of abandoned B-24 liberator aircraft and created IAF’s first long-range bomber capability. It was a herculean task as no country, including the OEM, was willing to support it. The IAF and HAL used their WW II expertise, a strategy of reduce to produce, and more importantly took the risk of testing, evaluating, and operationalising the fleet.<\/span><\/p>\n

– India’s first basic trainer aircraft HT-2 was designed, developed, and manufactured by HAL with IAF support. It became IAF’s work horse basic trainer for the next four decades. This experience allowed IAF to support subsequent replacements such as the HPT-32. The new aircraft HTT-40 will soon enter IAF service.<\/span><\/p>\n

– IAF supported the early development of an indigenous jet trainer, HJT-16 Kiran, in the 1960s. This is a success story. The Kiran entered IAF’s service in 1972 and has been the work horse of training IAF pilots for nearly half a century.<\/span><\/p>\n

– HF-24 Marut was an ambitious indigenous fighter program taken upon by the IAF and the HAL in the late 1950s. It turned out to be one of the finest designs in the world but was hampered by a lack of suitable engines denied by Cold War geopolitics. The HF-24 program experience laid the foundation for subsequent indigenous design and Testing institutions such as ASTE, SDI, ADA, and the DRDO. The HF-24 proved itself very well in the 1971 war.<\/span><\/p>\n

– IAF laid the foundations for indigenous capabilities in maintenance and repair through its various BRDs (Base Repair Depot). These have worked to reduce the vulnerability of import dependence by addressing MROs through import substitution for various components and consumables. BRDs also graduated to a full overhaul of engines, aircraft, and missile systems, including life extension programs. Aircraft like MiG-23 BN, MiG-29, Su-30, Mirage 2000, etc were taken up for MRO. Similarly, MRO of engines of Russian and French aircraft was also undertaken.<\/span><\/p>\n

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IAF has driven the development and operationalisation of the following programs:<\/span><\/p>\n