Tejas aircraft (@IAF_MCC)  |  Photo Credit: Twitter
New Delhi: In a big boost for the Indian Air Force and PM Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Cabinet Committee on Security on Wednesday cleared the purchase of 83 Light Combat Aircraft Tejas from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The Rs 48,000 crore deal will be the biggest ever in the indigenous military aviation sector.
The government will procure 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 Trainer aircraft. It is the first “Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)” category procurement of combat aircraft with an indigenous content of 50 per cent which will progressively reach 60 per cent by the end of the programme.
Terming the mega deal as the gamechanger for self-reliance in the Indian defence manufacturing, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh confirmed that the CCS chaired by PM Modi approved the largest indigenous defence procurement deal.
“The CCS chaired by PM Sh. @narendramodi today approved the largest indigenous defence procurement deal worth about 48000 Crores to strengthen IAF’s fleet of homegrown fighter jet ‘LCA-Tejas’. This deal will be a game changer for self reliance in the Indian defence manufacturing,” Singh tweeted.
Singh said that the Tejas fighter jets would be the backbne for the IAF in the future
“The LCA-Tejas is going to be the backbone of the IAF fighter fleet in years to come. LCA-Tejas incorporates a large number of new technologies many of which were never attempted in India. The indigenous content of LCA-Tejas is 50% in Mk1A variant which will be enhanced to 60%,” Singh said.
Assuring timely deliveries of the fighter aircraft, the defence minister said that HAL has already set up second line manufacturing facilities at its Nasik and Bengaluru divisions.
“The HAL has already set-up second line manufacturing facilities at its Nasik and Bengaluru Divisions. Equipped with the augmented infrastructure the HAL will steer LCA-Mk1A production for timely deliveries to the IAF,” he further said.
The defence minister said that the manufacturing of the fighter jets will provide more employment opportunities.
“The decision taken today will considerably expand the current LCA ecosystem and help in creating new job opportunities,” Singh asserted.
“The LCA-Tejas programme would act as a catalyst for transforming the indian aerospace manufacturing ecosystem into a vibrant Atmanirbhar-self-sustaining ecosystem. I thank the Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi for this historic decision taken by the CCS today,” he further added.
Light Combat Aircraft Mk-1A variant is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured state-of-the-art modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft. This aircraft is equipped with critical operational capabilities of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile, Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite and Air to Air Refuelling (AAR) would be a potent platform to meet the operational requirements of IAF.
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