Tejas Combat Ready; IAF Chief Praises Indigenously Built Fighter Jet

BENGALURU: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday finally agreed that the indigenously developed and built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was combat ready, and received the ‘release to service’ certificate—which means the fighter got the final operational clearance (FOC)—from Defence Research and Development Organisation, whose lab Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) designed the aircraft.

The aircraft, which was first conceived in 1983, is being produced by defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Although it was conceived in 1983, the project was only sanctioned in 1993.

The FOC and release to service happened close on the heels of the final DAL (Drawing Applicability Lists) of Tejas was released to HAL on December 31. This meant that HAL could go ahead with the production of the aircraft in FOC configuration.

Answering a specific question on whether the Tejas was combat ready, IAF chief Birender Singh Dhanoa said: “Didn’t you see them perform at Vayu shakti,” inferring that the Tejas was ready.

“It’s a major milestone today that we have got the FOC of the LCA MK 1. Like I had told you, the proof of the pudding is in eating. You saw how much the aircraft could fly and the number of sorties it could generate during Gagan Shakti, which was in April 2018. And during Vayu Shakti, we showed you how accurately this aircraft could dispense weapons on the target. So that is the proof,” he said.

Dhanoa said that not only could the Tejas sustain a very high sortie rate but it can also carry out very accurate weapon delivery. “…Because it’s a fighter plane, it has to behave like a fighter, and it did well in both air-to-air and air-to-ground mode,” Dhanoa said, adding that pilots were very happy.

The IAF has placed orders for 40 Tejas aircraft so far, of which HAL has rolled out 14 and IAF has accepted 10. The planes are in service and are being operated by IAF’s Squadron Number 45—the Flying Daggers—from Sulur.

While the initial 20 aircraft are in the initial operational clearance (IOC) configuration, the remaining of this first batch of aircraft ordered by IAF will be built as per FOC standards. HAL has already begun work on the FOC standard aircraft late last year.

RFP for 83 Tejas

The air chief further said that the IAF will soon issue the Request For Proposal (RFP) for 83 Tejas MK-1A aircraft to further boost the force’s squadron strength, which is fast depleting.

“The RFP is going to be issued soon, for the production to continue. Not only will the IAF buy the Tejas Mk-1A but also the MK2,” he said.

The RFP will come as a major relief to HAL, which has been staring at a depleting order book. The worth of the 83 aircraft was pegged at Rs 50,000 crore by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

However, the final cost of the project is yet to be decided given that the cost committee is still reviewing HAL’s offer after which the price will be announced.

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Source: ToI

Image Courtesy:Bloomberg

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