IAF to order 83 more Tejas but has got only 5 of 40 ordered earlier
Rajat Pandit| TNN | Dec 20, 2017, 23:02 IST
NEW DELHI: The
Indian Air Force on Wednesday kicked off the process to order another 83 indigenous
Tejas light combat aircraft by issuing a RFP (request for proposal) to defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (
HAL).
"HAL has to submit its formal proposal by March 2018. The contract, which will be worth over Rs 50,000 crore, will be inked at a later stage," said a
defence ministrysource.
The 83
Tejas Mark-1A jets are supposed to have 43 "improvements" to improve maintainability, AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar to replace the existing mechanically-steered radar, mid-air refueling capability, long-range BVR (beyond visual range) missiles and advanced electronic warfare to jam enemy radars and missiles.
But it will take some doing. The Tejas, which was approved way back in 1983, is still not combat-ready. HAL has so far delivered only five of the 20 Tejas ordered by the IAF in their IOC (initial operational clearance) configuration, which basically means the fighter is airworthy, under the first Rs 2,813 crore contract inked in March 2006.
As per the second Rs 5,989 crore contract inked in December 2010, HAL had to deliver another 20 Tejas in their FOC (final operational clearance) or combat-ready configuration. All these 40 fighters were to be delivered by December 2016, but the fighter is yet to even get its FOC, which has been delayed till June 2018 now.
"For ramping up production capacity from the existing eight to 16 aircraft per annum, the government has sanctioned Rs 1,381 crore in March 2017," minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre told Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
With the Navy already holding that the naval variant of the Tejas does not meet its requirements for aircraft carrier-borne fighters, the IAF too has expressed its reluctance to go in for Tejas Mark-II jets. As it is, the overall Tejas project with developmental and production costs for 123 jets stands at well over Rs 70,000 core.
Tejas, with its limited range (radius of action is 400-km) and weapon carrying capacity (just 3 tonnes), simply does not give IAF the punch and cost-effectiveness it needs. Grappling with just 33 fighter squadrons when 45 are need to take care of the "collusive threat" from China and Pakistan, the IAF is pushing for a second single-engine fighter "Make in India" project for which the American F-16 and Swedish Gripen-E jets are in contention.