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NAGPUR: After recently opening up aircraft overhaul works for private sector, maintenance command of Indian Air Force (IAF) is expected to invite bids for modification of certain accessories in transport and fighter aircraft.
It may start with AN-32, the transport aircraft procured from the erstwhile USSR. This may be followed by that for the Sukhoi-30 fighters. The matter is still under consideration for the second aircraft. Though not a critical component, the equipment was still an important add-on to the aircraft, said Air Marshal Jagjit Singh, Air-Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the maintenance command, during an informal interaction with TOI.
The job was currently being carried out by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), but the PSU already had its hands full. So the IAF planned to share the burden. First the know-how will be taken from HAL, then the job will be carried out in-house initially before being passed on to private sector. Tenders were expected to be issued in a few months, said the officer.
Singh stated IAF had already outsourced a part of life cycle extension work for AN-32 and MIG-29 to a private company. The tenders for it were floated last year. Certain jobs that are manpower intensive could be easily outsourced to the private sector that has also developed the know-how. This helped in speeding up the process, he said.
The maintenance command will also be taking up the job of overhauling of Sukhoi-30 by July this year. Again, this will ease the load on HAL, which has been doing the job. The Sukhoi fleet will eventually touch 300 from around 180 at present. HAL overhauls around 25 aircraft in a year. If the maintenance command took up the work too, the time lag could be reduced by 3-4 years, he informed. The maintenance command had also been steadily working on indigenization of spares. Recently it achieved success in making certain major spares at home through reverse engineering,
said Singh.
Sources stated air headquarters had also invited bids for mordernization of base repair depots (BRDs). BRDs were functional units under the command and were spread located all across the country. Recently a request for proposal was floated for the contract to modernize the 16 BRDs. The bids would be received in the next month, said a source. The entire contract may be worth close to Rs 400 crore, said a source.
IAF may involve pvt cos in modifying aircraft accessories - The Times of India
It may start with AN-32, the transport aircraft procured from the erstwhile USSR. This may be followed by that for the Sukhoi-30 fighters. The matter is still under consideration for the second aircraft. Though not a critical component, the equipment was still an important add-on to the aircraft, said Air Marshal Jagjit Singh, Air-Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the maintenance command, during an informal interaction with TOI.
The job was currently being carried out by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), but the PSU already had its hands full. So the IAF planned to share the burden. First the know-how will be taken from HAL, then the job will be carried out in-house initially before being passed on to private sector. Tenders were expected to be issued in a few months, said the officer.
Singh stated IAF had already outsourced a part of life cycle extension work for AN-32 and MIG-29 to a private company. The tenders for it were floated last year. Certain jobs that are manpower intensive could be easily outsourced to the private sector that has also developed the know-how. This helped in speeding up the process, he said.
The maintenance command will also be taking up the job of overhauling of Sukhoi-30 by July this year. Again, this will ease the load on HAL, which has been doing the job. The Sukhoi fleet will eventually touch 300 from around 180 at present. HAL overhauls around 25 aircraft in a year. If the maintenance command took up the work too, the time lag could be reduced by 3-4 years, he informed. The maintenance command had also been steadily working on indigenization of spares. Recently it achieved success in making certain major spares at home through reverse engineering,
said Singh.Sources stated air headquarters had also invited bids for mordernization of base repair depots (BRDs). BRDs were functional units under the command and were spread located all across the country. Recently a request for proposal was floated for the contract to modernize the 16 BRDs. The bids would be received in the next month, said a source. The entire contract may be worth close to Rs 400 crore, said a source.
IAF may involve pvt cos in modifying aircraft accessories - The Times of India
