Over 60% of ‘Made In India’ IAF Tejas Grounded
It is due to these grave design, performance, and safety issues that Indian Air Force leadership did not feel confident enough to deploy a single Tejas fighter jet with any of its variants during IAF’s botched Balakot Strike Mission on 26th February 2019.
Indian Air Force officials are dismayed and demoralised with the announcement at the inauguration of Aero India-2021 Show held at the Yelahanka airbase on the 3rd of February by
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, awarding a ₹45,696 crore ($6.25billion) contract to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-HAL to supply 83 LCA (light combat aircraft) Mk-1A jets to the Indian Air Force, for a varied number of reasons, primarily due to the Tejas aircraft suffering basic design flaws that have not been dealt with by its manufacturer the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-HAL despite working on numerous Tejas prototypes for more than 35 years, consistently suffering the issue of 60% of Tejas aircraft being grounded at all times.
The second reason for resentment among upper echelons of the Indian Air Force is the unusually long delivery time for the ordered aircraft with the first Mk-1A aircraft to be delivered for induction after three years that is not before 2024. With the rest being supplied by 2030, that is again if HAL is able to keep up with the production schedule, which does not reflect the delay stricken bureaucratic ji culture prevalent at the aircraft manufacturer, amply displayed with the 35 year history of the LCA development programme.
40 of the Indian Airforce frontline Tejas fighters that have so far been inducted by the Indian Air Force are facing critical issues,
such as shortfalls in meeting the engine thrust and other parameters such as weight of the aircraft, fuel capacity, pilot protection from front against 7.62 mm bullets due to which 60% of Tejas continually stand grounded. The HAL Tejas LCA MK1A, is a lightweight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed locally by Defence Research And Development Organisation of India. Tailor-made to suit the needs of poor countries like India.
Designed locally by India, the Tejas development has been facing issues upon issues before it is considered 100% fit to fly and stay operational with any air force. There are problems with the fuselage, with cracks being detected in the lower fairing skin; this is an area that is most affected by G or gravity-related pressures. It is due to these grave design, performance and safety issues that Indian Air Force leadership did not feel confident enough to deploy a single Tejas fighter jet with any of its variants during IAF’s botched Balakot Strike Mission on 26th February 2019, and none of the Tejas aircraft at the disposal of IAF were scrambled the next day during Pakistan’s Air Force’s Operation Swift Retort that surprised IAF’s top leadership with the operational professionalism and air combat skill displayed by PAF strike package that bombed Indian Army Brigade Headquarters at Poonch, Indian Army Brigade Headquarters at Rajouri, and Indian Army Narian Forward Support Depots.
Despite working on numerous Tejas prototypes for more than 35 years, 60% of locally made Indian Tejas aircraft have been grounded
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