HAL receives first wing assemblies for LCA Mk1A from L&T

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Thursday received the first set of wing assemblies for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A from Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

The assemblies were handed over at an event in Coimbatore, attended virtually by Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar.

The wing assemblies were produced by L&T’s Precision Manufacturing & Systems Complex and received by HAL’s General Manager (LCA Tejas Division) M Abdul Salam.

Addressing the event, Kumar lauded HAL and L&T for their efforts towards achieving self-reliance in defence manufacturing.

He praised HAL for driving collaboration with private sector partners and nurturing their capabilities, expressing confidence that the LCA Tejas production targets would be met. He urged all stakeholders to focus on reducing dependence on imports.

HAL Chairman and Managing Director DK Sunil, who was present on the occasion, termed the handing over as a testament to years of dedicated hand-holding and shared commitment to excellence by HAL and L&T.

“HAL is working with suppliers, both large and SMEs, as an initiative towards achieving Aatmanirbharta in the aerospace and defence sector. HAL has effectively built a parallel aircraft structural assembly line in the private sector, which will help in capacity augmentation of the LCA Tejas programme,” he said.

L&T Senior Vice President and Head of Precision Engineering & Systems Arun Ramchandani said the company would initially supply four wing sets per year and plans to increase production to 12 sets annually using advanced assembly and automation processes.

The LCA Tejas Division has so far received air intake assemblies from Lakshmi Machine Works, rear fuselage from Alpha Tocol, loom assemblies from Amphenol, fin and rudder assemblies from Tata Advanced Systems, centre fuselage from VEM Technologies, and now wing assemblies from L&T for the Mk1A variant.