Chandigarh, April 2
On July 8, 2005, an IAF helicopter engaged for a VIP flight was involved in an incident, where the engine had to be switched-off due to malfunctioning of the fuel control unit (FCU).
Of the 20 such FCUs procured by the IAF from May 2004, to May 2005, for its Russian origin helicopters, as many as 19 FCUs, valuing Rs 1.38 crore were reported to be spurious by the operating units. Air Headquarters took up the matter with the supplying firm, FED Khairkiv Ukraine, which confirmed that only one FCU had been supplied by it while the rest had false documents and manufacturing serial numbers.
Revealing this in its latest report, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) pointed out that besides compromising on the operational safety, the helicopters also remained grounded for a long time till the FCUs were replaced.
The ministry of defence had concluded a contract with Indo-Russian Aviation Limited (IRAL), a joint venture company for supply of 82 lines of rotables at a cost of Rs 12 crore, which included FCUs and auxiliary power units (APU). The company supplied only 70 lines.
The IRAL supplied 15 APUs valuing Rs 3.25 crore, when these were inspected on receipt at the base repair depot, it was found that these were refurbished old APU. Out of the 15 APUs, three had serial numbers that were the same as those already existing with the IAF.
The APUs were sourced from Russian Aviation Company Limited, where as Motor Sich had been specified as the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in IRAL’s offer. Motor Sich confirmed to Air Headquarters that they had not supplied the APUs to India.
The logbooks supplied along with the APUs mentioned that these were manufactured by Motor Sich in 2002-03 and were brand new with no operating hours. Motor Sich, however, maintained that the
logbooks and the units were fake and not supplied by them. The signatures of the OEM officials and stamps were also forged. He logbooks were of an old standard that had been discontinued six years ago.
So far the suppliers have replaced 18 spurious FCUs and 10 APUs. The CAG has pointed out that this highlights weakness of the IAF’s existing system of acceptance and testing, which allowed acceptance of the supplies based upon certificates furnished by the suppliers instead of obtaining prior confirmation directly from the OEM about the genuineness of the products supplied and conducting proper tests before dispatch to user units.
The CAG also cautioned that since Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is one of the partners in IRAL, there was no assurance that spurious products were not making their way through IRAL in the repair and maintenance chain of HAL.
