IAF to procure additional batch of 97 Tejas Mark-1A jets: Air Chief Marshal

The Indian Air Force is in the process of finalising a Rs 115 lakh crore deal to procure an additional batch of 97 Tejas Mark1A aircraft besides upgrading 84 Sukhoi30MKI jets at a cost of Rs 60000 crore Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said on TuesdayIn February 2021 the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48000crore deal with staterun aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for the procurement of 83 Tejas MK1A jets for the IAFWith the additional 97 Tejas Mark1A jets the total number of indigenouslydeveloped aircraft being procured by the IAF would go up to 180Addressing a press conference ahead of the Air Force Day on October 8 the Chief of Air Staff also said that 84 Sukhoi30MKI fighter jets will be upgraded at a cost of a little over Rs 60000 croreThe defence ministry is also looking at signing a contract with the HAL next year to procure a total of 156 light combat helicopters LCH out of which 66 will be for the IAFThe IAF now operates 10 light combat helicoptersWe had signed the contract for 83 LCAMark 1As What we are looking at is now to supplement that contract with 97 additional aircraft So it will bring the total to about 180 LCAMark1As The contract value will be a little over 115 lakh crores Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari saidAsked about the timeline for delivery of the LCA Mark1As as HAL can produce only 15 of them annually he indicated that the aerospace major may increase the pace of production in partnership with the private sectorThe contract will be signed with the HAL for an additional 97 LCA Mark1As The HAL may decide to increase the number of production lines in partnership with the Indian private industry That is yet to be decided he saidThe Chief of Air Staff said the number of LCAMark1A jets being procured is not linked to future procurement of Tejas Mark2 Light Combat AircraftThe highly anticipated Tejas Mark2 aircraft is expected to be ready for the first flight by 2025When it comes to the numbers of Tejas Mark1As these are not in the view of any Mark 2s or any other future production These are independent These are to cater for the drawdown in the MiG21 fleet Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari saidTejas is a singleengine multirole fighter aircraft capable of operating in highthreat air environmentsIt has been designed to undertake the air defence maritime reconnaissance and strike rolesAir Chief Marshal Chaudhari said the IAF is also finalising procurement of Akash weapon systems mediumrange surfacetoair missile MRSAM Pralay missile system among othersWe are planning to sign these contracts sometime in the coming year he saidThe IAF Chief said except for the tanker aircraft and multirole fighter aircraft MRFA project most of the cases of acquisition are going to be indigenous onlyHe also underlined the importance of the space domainSpace operations will find many similarities to air operations as compared to operations in any other domain Freedom to operate in space without interference from the adversary is of vital national importance he saidA strong selfreliant and credible aerospace force would definitely be an essential step towards achieving first of the Five Prans Panch Pranas of Amritkaal that is to become a developed country the IAF Chief addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever