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In a significant boost to India’s indigenous fighter aircraft programme, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has delivered the first set of wing assemblies for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1A to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The handover ceremony took place at L&T’s Precision Manufacturing & Systems Complex in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
The assemblies were received by M Abdul Salam, General Manager of HAL’s LCA Tejas Division, on behalf of the company. Secretary, Defence Production, Sanjeev Kumar, attended the event virtually and lauded the partnership between HAL and L&T as a vital step toward achieving self-reliance in defence manufacturing.
Commending HAL for fostering strong private sector collaboration, Kumar expressed confidence in meeting the LCA Mk1A production targets and urged continued efforts to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. “This collaboration reflects the expanding capabilities of Indian industry in critical defence technologies,” he said.
HAL Chairman and Managing Director, DK Sunil, described the delivery as the result of sustained hand-holding and shared commitment to excellence between HAL and L&T. “HAL is working closely with both large enterprises and SMEs to strengthen indigenous capabilities under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. The establishment of a parallel aircraft structural assembly line in the private sector is a significant step forward in augmenting the LCA Tejas programme’s production capacity,” he said.
Arun Ramchandani, Senior Vice President & Head of L&T Precision Engineering & Systems, announced that the company would initially supply four wing sets annually, with plans to ramp up production to 12 sets per year through automation and advanced assembly technologies.
The latest milestone adds to a growing list of private sector contributions to the LCA Mk1A programme. HAL has already received major structural modules from various Indian suppliers — including air intake assemblies from Lakshmi Machine Works, the rear fuselage from Alpha Tocol, loom assemblies from Amphenol, the fin and rudder from Tata Advanced Systems, and the centre fuselage from VEM Technologies.
The LCA Tejas Mk1A, a lighter and more capable version of the indigenous fighter, is at the heart of India’s drive to modernise its air combat fleet with domestically developed technology.
Team BharatShakti
