The Indian Air Force (IAF) has placed an order for 83 Tejas light combat aircraft with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru. These 83 Tejas aircraft will be an improved version of the single-engine fighter of Mark-1 configuration, being inducted into the IAF. On Wednesday IAF kicked off the process to order those 83 indigenous Tejas aircraft by issuing a request for proposal (RFP) to defense PSU HAL. The defense sources said, “HAL has to submit its final proposal by next year in March 2018. The contract will be worth over Rs 50,000 crore and it will be inked at a later stage”.
The Tejas Mark-1A jets are supposed to have total 43 “improvements” to improve maintainability and scanned array radar to replace the existing mechanically-steered scanning radar. These will have the capability of mid-air refueling capability, long-range Beyond Visual Range (BVR)) missiles and advanced warfare system and electronic functions to jam enemy radars and missiles.
Initially, The Indian Air Force (IAF) had placed an order twenty Tejas fighters in the Initial Operation Clearance configuration. But till date, only 5 have been provided. These Tejas have been inducted into the No 45 squadron of the IAF, starting in July 2016. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chairman Mr. T Suvarna Raju had told that 11 IOC aircraft will be supplied by next year in March 2018, and the rest subsequently.
As per the second contract of six thousand crore contract inked in December 2010, Hindustan Aeronautic had to deliver another 20 Tejas in their FOC (final operational clearance) or combat-ready configuration. All these 40 fighters were to be delivered by last year in December 2016, but these have been delayed until June 2018 now.
The next order placed is for twenty fighters in Final Operation Clearance (FOC), which are expected to be supplied within 5 years by 2023. Hindustan Aeronautic is expecting that the FOC for the Tejas to be given by the middle of next year, following which the jets can go into production. The order for 83 Tejas light combat fighters will go some way in making up the shortfall of squadrons in the Indian Air Force but will not be able to meet IAF’s authorization of 42 fighter squadrons. The Indian Air Force currently has 33 squadrons and if the French Rafale fighters and Tejas are inducted on scheduled time, without any other induction of fighters, the numbers will go down to 27 by 2032.
The cost of these aircrafts is around 50,000 crore for total 83 Tejas and about Rs 400-600 crore per aircraft for HAL and other Indian and foreign suppliers.
To make up for the shortfall, India has been interested in a single-engine foreign fighter and hopes to select between the American fighter F-18 and the Swedish fighter Gripen Aircraft (GA).
Although these foreign fighters are expected to be produced in our country, the govt. seems keen on purchasing the Tejas fighters for Indian Air Force. As a result, this has led to no progress from the ministry on issuing a request for information for the foreign fighter jets with a single engine.
