HAL has order book of Rs 84,000cr, another Rs 50,000 cr in pipeline

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has an order book position of Rs 84,000 crore and another Rs 50,000 crore worth of orders are in the pipeline, its Chairman and Managing Director C B Ananthakrishnan said on Tuesday.

He also said Argentina and Egypt have evinced interest in buying the HAL-built LCA Tejas. While Argentina's requirement is 15 aircraft, Egypt wanted a fleet of 20 LCAs, Ananthakrishnan told a press conference on the sidelines of Aero India 2023, Asia's largest air show underway at Yelahanka here.

"We are in a comfortable position today with an order of Rs 84,000 crore we are sitting on and orders in the pipeline are about Rs 50,000 crore," he said. Ananthakrishnan said indigenisation has been given thrust in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis on 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat'.

F-35 fighter demonstrates its prowess

The United States Air Force's (USAF) newest fifth-generation F-35 fighter demonstrated its prowess at Aero India, Asia largest air show underway here.

The stealthy, supersonic, multirole F-35A Lightning II and F-35A Joint Strike Fighter made their debut at the five-day aerospace and defence exhibition at Air Force Station Yelahanka here. After a journey from Hill Air Force Base in Utah, United States, the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team impressed crowds with a demo of its aerial capabilities on Tuesday.

The F-35A Lightning II from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska was on static display In addition to the F-35, an F-16 Fighting Falcon duo also conducted aerial demonstrations, showcasing the capability of one of the USAF's leading fighter jets. On static display, the F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are multirole fighters.

Major General Julian C Cheater, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs, said, "the F-35 represents the leadingedge of U.S. fighter technology. Aero India is an ideal forum to showcase the most advanced, capable, lethal, and interoperable weapons systems the U.S. has to offer."

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the USAF expanded its lineup for Aero India 2023 with the arrival of two B-1B Lancers after a journey to India from their temporary duty location at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The B-1B Lancer is a supersonic heavy bomber. It carries the largest conventional payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the US Air Force.

'India does not believe in countering security challenge paradigms'

India does not believe in giving "sermons or cut-and-dried" solutions to countries in need of assistance, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.  In an address to his counterparts from various countries at Aero India here, Singh also called for united efforts to counter pressing security challenges, including the threat of terrorism.

The defence minister said India does not believe in dealing with such security issues in the "old paternalistic or the neo-colonial paradigms" and that it always preferred a collective approach to counter them. "We consider all nations as equal partners. That is why, we do not believe in imposing external or supra national solutions to a country's internal problems," he said.

"We do not believe in giving sermons or cut-and-dried solutions, which do not respect national values and constraints of the countries in need of assistance," he said. Singh noted that India supports the capacity building of its partner countries so that they may chart their own destiny.

"There are nations which are richer, militarily or technologically more advanced than others, but it does not give them the right to dictate their solutions to the nations in need of support," he said, in comments which are seen as an apparent reference to China.

The defence minister said this "topdown approach" towards solving problems has never been sustainable in the long run. "Often, it leads to debt trap, reaction from the local population, conflict and so on," he said.

"That is why the focus should be on providing assistance, in terms of building of institutions and capacities, so that bottom-up solutions can come up organically, in consonance with the ethos of nations being assisted," he added. Singh said India offers an enhanced defence partnership to friendly foreign nations.

US adds two B-1B Lancer heavy bomber jets at air show

Two B-1B Lancer supersonic heavy bomber jets of the US Air Force on Tuesday joined the American exhibits at the Aero India at the Yelahanka air base in reflection of deeper strategic ties between the two countries.

The B-1B Lancer is capable of carrying out missions worldwide from its base