SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has admitted that the delivery of spares from Russia has experienced a slowdown in recent months, and the situation is expected to worsen later this year due to Russia’s indication of further delays in supplying spares for Russian fighter jets such as Sukhoi 30MKI and MiG-29, transport planes IL-76 and AN-32, as well as Mi-17 helicopters.
During the Air Force Commanders’ Conference (AFCC) held at Air Headquarters, Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari urged IAF commanders to develop a well-defined strategy for maintaining their fleet and to take measures to promote indigenization at the same time.
The Chief of the Indian Air Force has requested assistance from state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and other public sector companies to replace Russian spares with indigenous ones. To accomplish this, the IAF has been advised to engage Indian private sector companies to manufacture locally-made spares.
The IAF may seek local production licensing from Russian public sector companies to allow Indian firms to manufacture spare parts in India. Alternatively, if this is not possible, the IAF may have to take measures that could be perceived as going against contractual obligations to ensure that fleet availability is not affected by shortages from Russia.
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