The Indian Air Force (IAF) is all set to place orders for around 100 additional Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark-1A fighter jets from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), according to senior defence officials.
The decision was taken to replace the ageing fleet of MiG-21 fighter jets in the IAF, reported India Today citing defence officials.
The proposals for the projects have been submitted to the Defence Ministry and clearance for the order is expected to come in the near future, added officials.
As many as 300 Tejas Mark-1A fighter aircrafts are expected to be inducted into the Indian Air Force in the next few years.
The Tejas Mark-1A is an indigenously designed, developed and built modern 4-plus generation fighter aircraft with more than 65 per cent indigenous components.
Tejas is expected to meet the operational requirements of the IAF with indigenously developed Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile, modern Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite and Air-to-Air Refueling (AAR) capabilities.
IAF Chief VR Chaudhari recently also reviewed the development project of the Tejas Mark-1A with all stakeholders and mentioned the aircraft has been the flagbearer of the IAF’s efforts towards indigenization of its aircraft fleet.
In 2021, the IAF had contracted HAL for the delivery of 73 LCA Tejas Mark-1A aircrafts and 10 Tejas Mark-1 aircrafts.
