HAL strongly pushes for FGFA project with Russia
23 Oct 2017 10:59 PM IST
New Delhi: State-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on Monday strongly pitched for going ahead with the fifth-generation fighter jet project with Russia, though the Indian Air Force is understood to have reservations over it.
HAL Chairman and Managing Director T Suvarna Raju said the multi-billion dollar co-development project with Russia will be an opportunity as no country has ever offered such critical technology to India.
"We are still hopeful. It is an opportunity for the industry as well as for the country. This is an opportunity for us to go in for this kind of (high) technology which has not been offered to us by any other country (except Russia)," he said.
Asked about IAF's reservations about the project, Raju did not give a direct reply and insisted that it would help India's aerospace sector to a great extent.
"The impact of the project will be very positive. FGFA (Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft) is my dream, I am hopeful about it," Raju told reporters on the sidelines of an event.
He said it will take three years for the first FGFA to fly from the day the government gives the go ahead to the project.
A high-level committee set up by the government to examine various aspects of the project has recently submitted its report and the defence ministry is likely to take a call on it soon.
In 2007, India and Russia had inked an inter-governmental pact for the FGFA project.
In December 2010, India had agreed to pay $295 million (Rs 1,897 crore) towards the preliminary design of the fighter, which is called in India as the 'Perspective Multi- role Fighter'.
However, the negotiations faced various hurdles in the subsequent years.
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