rohitvats wrote:You want production order to be increased for a product which is yet to enter service from a manufacturer who is rolling out the first high performance aircraft?
Yes it is their first time, and they will have to bust their balls to get it through. But they will have to do it anyway.
You do realize that the first squadron to enter service will be used to iron out any issues in the aircraft. And that is why it is being raised in Sulur.
If everything goes to plan the LAC will achieve FoC by end of next year. Any large production rate increase will take years to to achieve. So even if HAL has been given the orders its unlikely that they will be able to produce any more than the one pre-FoC squadron. Every fighter after that will be post-FoC config.
As for incentive for HAL - well, if we're talking about incentives for HAL as a manufacturer, we need to factor into account the requirements of the operator as well. The aircraft to enter first squadron and their subsequent exploitation by line fighter pilots will decide on the SOP for further squadron. An aircraft adopting FOC is not the be-all and end-all of the development.
So the IAF is going to use the handful of LCAs it has ordered to check if this indigenous fighter, which was specifically designed for them, actually fits into its plans. Only then is the IAF, which is facing chronic shortage of fighters, going to order more of them, if at all. Is that what you're saying?