Aircraft manufacturers must deliver on time to the IAF: Air Chief Marshal

Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, the Chief of the Air Staff, on Sunday (January 4, 2025), emphasised the need to adhere to delivery timelines to keep the Indian Air Force operationally ready in the constantly evolving times.

Addressing a two-day seminar on ‘Aeronautics 2047’, Air Chief Marshal Singh congratulated the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) on the completion of 25 years of flight by the light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas. ADA designed and developed the Tejas, with more than 5,600 successful flight trials. More than 100 design centres, including government laboratories, academic institutes, and industries, were associated with this programme. Several niche technologies — including carbon composites, light-weight materials, fly-by-wire flight control, digital utility management system, and a glass cockpit — were developed to make the LCA a fourth-generation fighter.

Defence Research and Development Organisation chairman Samir V. Kamat underscored the importance of developing indigenous cutting-edge technology to minimise India’s dependence on imports, thereby realising the vision of a developed India by 2047.

The seminar brought together domain experts, industrial partners, academia, aviation enthusiasts and speakers from across the aerospace community to share their insights on the evolution of aeronautics, design innovation, manufacturing, and future frontiers.

The focus of ‘Aeronautics 2047’ is to explore modern aerospace technologies, including manufacturing and assembly for next generation aircraft, digital manufacturing, aerodynamics for next generation combat aircraft, propulsion technologies, flight testing techniques, digital twin technology, certification challenges, flight control systems, avionics, maintainability challenges in fighter aircraft, AI in aircraft design, and precision manufacturing for actuators.