Center signs Rs 48,000 crore deal to buy 83 Tejas fighter jets for IAF

The Cabinet Security Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the largest indigenous defense purchase deal worth around Rs 48,000 crore to buy 83 LCA Tejas Mark1A fighter jets. The agreement to be signed in the coming days with HAL would strengthen the Indian. The Air Force’s local “LCA-Tejas” fighter fleet and global combat capability.

The CCS, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today approved the largest indigenous defense procurement contract worth around Rs 48,000 crore to bolster the local fighter jet fleet of the IAF` LCA-Tejas`. This deal will be game-changing for itself. Confidence in the Indian defense industry, “Defense Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted to announce the final approval given to the mega-deal. deal will be a game-changer for self-sufficiency in India’s defense industry, ”Defense Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted to announce final approval of the mega-deal.

The CCS chaired by PM Sh. @Narendra Modi today approved the largest native defense procurement contract worth approximately 48,000 crore to bolster the IAF’s LCA-Tejas local fighter fleet. This agreement will be a game-changer for autonomy in the manufacture of Indian defense.

– Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) January 13, 2021

“LCA-Tejas will be the backbone of the IAF fighter fleet for years to come. LCA-Tejas incorporates a host of new technologies many of which have never been attempted in India. LCA-Tejas is 50% in the Mk1A variant which will be increased to 60% ”, he added.

It is noteworthy that the Indian Air Force (IAF) had deployed Tejas Light Fighter Jets (LCA) to the Western Front along the Pakistani border due to tensions with China on the Ladakh front. ‘last year.

In view of the Chinese border aggression, the Air Force has deployed its resources all along the borders with China and Pakistan.

The deal would be a major boost for the IAF and help stop the decline in the number of its fighter squadrons.

The Mk-1A light fighter variant is a modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft designed, developed and manufactured locally. This aircraft, which is equipped with critical operational capabilities of Active Scanning Electronic Radar (AESA), Beyond Visual Range Missile (BVR), Electronic Warfare Suite (EW) and Air Refueling (AAR), would be a powerful platform to meet the operational needs of the Indian Air Force.

This is the first purchase of combat aircraft in the “Purchase (designed, developed and manufactured locally)” category of combat aircraft with 50% local content which will gradually reach 60% by the end of the program. .

The Cabinet also approved the infrastructure development by IAF as part of the project to enable it to manage repairs or maintenance of their base depot so that lead time is reduced for critical systems to mission and lead to increased availability of aircraft for operational use. This would allow the IAF to support the fleet more effectively and efficiently due to the availability of repair infrastructure at the respective bases.

The indigenous Tejas fighter plane was praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech last year. The initial version of LCA has already joined the Air Force. While the first squadron of aircraft is on the initial operational clearance version, the second 18 Squadron “ Flying Bullets ” is on the final operational clearance version and has been operationalized by the IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria at Sulur air base on May 27. year.

The deal for the 83 LCA Mark1A aircraft was made possible by the efforts of then Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar when he obtained the specifications approved by the Defense Acquisition Board.

(With ANI inputs)