‘We sign contracts, knowing they will never come’: Air Force chief slams delay in defence deliveries

“Timeline is a big issue,” he said bluntly at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Annual Business Summit 2025.

Nearly three months after publicly criticising Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for not delivering a single Tejas Mk1A fighter jet under a ₹48,000-crore contract, the Air Force chief reiterated his concerns over delays in major projects.

“Many times, we know while signing contracts that those systems will never come. Timelines are a big issue. Not a single project I can think of is completed on time. Why should we promise something that cannot be achieved?” he said.

The Air Chief specifically pointed to indigenous systems facing prolonged delays. “Deliveries of Tejas Mk1 are delayed. The prototype of Tejas Mk2 is yet to roll out. There is no prototype yet of the stealth AMCA fighter,” he told the gathering, which included Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Despite India's push for self-reliance in defence manufacturing under the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative, Singh said delays continue to hamper readiness.

“We cannot just talk about producing in India, we need to talk about designing. We need to have trust between the forces and industry. We need to be very open. Once we have committed to something, we should deliver. Air Force is trying to do its best to make in India,” he said.

“We have to be now-ready to be future-ready. In 10 years, we will have more output from industry, but what we need today, we need today. We need to quickly get our act together,” the Air Chief added. “Wars are won by empowering our forces.”

While expressing hope in the future of India’s defence ecosystem, Singh said the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme had now been opened up for private industry participation.

“That is a very big step, and that is the kind of confidence that the nation has in private industry today. I'm sure this is going to pave the way to bigger things coming in the future," he said.

This is not the first time the Air Force chief has publicly raised concerns about India’s lagging defence manufacturing capabilities.

Last October, shortly after taking charge, he remarked that India had once been ahead of China in defence technology but had since fallen behind. “As far as production rates are concerned, we are way behind. We need to catch up,” he said.

In February, Singh was caught on a live mic during a visit to HAL, expressing dissatisfaction with the delay in the Tejas Mk1A delivery.

“I was promised that when I come here in February, 11 Tejas Mk1As would be ready. And not a single one is ready,” he was heard saying while seated inside an HJT-36 Yashas. “We all have worked there (in HAL). But I find that HAL is just not in mission mode.”