Spare parts for Russian planes used by Navy likely to be made in India

The spare parts for Russian planes used by the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force and equipment onboard warships may be manufactured small and medium industries in the country as the armed forces are pushing for joint venture or agreement between Indian and Russian companies to make these components in India.

Indian tri-services officials, Indian firms and Russian firms had a few rounds of meetings at the India-Russia Military Industrial Conference at the DefExpo 2018 venue near here on Friday. Around 60 Indian component makers took part in the sessions.

Rear Admiral and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff V M Doss said the move to indigenise production of spare parts for the Russian planes being used by the Navy itself would lead to a saving of 400% to 2,000%. The Navy was looking to indigenise spare parts of MIG 29k planes which were inducted in 2009 and would be in service till 2037 to 2040, he added.

The planes are based out of Goa, Visakhapatnam and aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. They will also be based at IAC 1 aircraft carrier that will be commissioned in the future.

He said that the Navy was looking at long-term supply and maintenance contracts for spare parts.

There is also a plan to set up a facility for repair of 500 lines of components like avionics and others for the planes at Navy Aircraft Yard in Goa while engine repair and overhaul facility will be set up at HAL in Koraput.The Navy is looking to indigenise series of components of fighter jets, including radar, hydraulic system, head up display, cooling turbine or air conditioning, flight data recorder, landing gear and main nose, fire warning system and airframe.

Similarly, the Indian Air Force has identified 35 additional line for indigenisation under the ‘Make in India’ programme including spare parts for Mi helicopters.

The Indian Navy has a large number of Russian-made equipment, including hull, electrical systems, weapons and sensors. An official who made a presentation at the meeting said indigenisation was crucial because after sales service suffered from many issues including delays in sourcing spares.

Konstantin Svodin from the department of aviation industry, Russia, said: “We got the list of all platform for which after sales support were needed. Many joint venture agreements were signed during the DefExpo. We propose signing of inter-government agreement to do aftersales support for planes, helicopters, tanks and air defence systems and also provide a separate JV for making spare parts in India.”

 timesofindia