Sri Lanka, Egypt evince interest in India’s Light Combat Aircraft Tejas

[commander jain]

New Delhi: India’s Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, which was several years in the making, has now caught the attention of foreign buyers with Sri Lanka and Egypt evincing interest in the indigenously built fighter jet.

Sri Lanka had recently rejected Pakistan’s JF-17 aircraft built with Chinese help, while Egypt had last year signed a contract for 24 French-made Rafale fighter jets.

The two countries are interested in the current version of the Tejas and not the upgraded one which will be rolled out later.

However, state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the manufacturer of Tejas, is focusing on delivering the aircraft to the IAF first.
“While there is an interest which has been shown (by other countries), let us get the product first to our own customer. The confidence that will come to others when our own Air Force flies it will be immense. So at first, we should at least meet the initial requirement of the IAF,” HAL chairman T Suvarna Raju told PTI.

Refusing to share information on which are the countries that have evinced interest in Tejas, he expressed confidence in his marketing team and said they are equipped to take forward the talks. However, Defence sources said that the two countries which have evinced interest in Tejas were Sri Lanka and Egypt.

He said the “current version is more than enough” for smaller nations.

Two things that go in favour of the Tejas are its lower cost and flying ability.

“We have proved its flying ability and the aircraft, for that class, is a terrific one. We did take some time but we need to remember that DRDO and us did everything from the scratch,” Raju said.

Raju said that the upgraded version of Tejas, with Active Electrically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, Unified Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite, mid-air refuelling capacity and beyond the vision range missiles, will cost between Rs 275 crore and Rs 300 crore.

Sources said enquiries by foreign countries came during the Bahrain air show in January, the first time that Tejas flew outside the country.

The decision to send Tejas abroad was of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who has put his weight behind the aircraft.

LCA Tejas performed 8-G (gravity) pull, vertical loop, slow fly-past and barrel roll at the air show, which the Indian officials described as “historic”.

Interestingly, soon after the announcement of Tejas’ participation in Bahrain, Pakistan had withdrawn its JF-17 aircraft from the show despite having

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[Sulman Badshah]

doubt on egypt as they already have some good 4th gen platform
dozens of F16,
mirage 2000
Rafale on order
Mig 29 M/M2 on order

 

[Blue Marlin]

eygpt.... no the mig 35 has been ordered.
as a hypothetical scenario would be, what would they chose, the jf-17 or the tejas?

sri lanka is a iffy one there is a chance but which spec. the mk2 will be introduced around 202. i dont think they will wait that long. that and Chinese investment plays a heavy decision too also they have checked out the jf-17 too. in the end Pakistan would have to wait for the indian offer. but sri-lanka's ties with Pakistan are strong as they supplied tanks and weapons to defeat the tamil tigers which were supposedly supported by india. so theres that to consider too. also will any volatility with india result in parts shortages. we still need to see its reliability and servicing records. in the end it favors the Chinese, but hey lets see what india offers.

 

[GORKHALI]

Oh you are very right.JF-17 cant fly,it misses the target with a laser guided bomb, only 8 are produced in the last 2 decades we try to call it indigenous but as we all know that engine,avionics,jet design,engineers,armaments are from 8 different countries and whenever you buy it comes with a truck.

there is clear cut malfunction of LGB. Also The so called indigenous plane is still hold the edge over All metal Starship Jf17 .

LCA is flying high and faster while a squadron is due for next month.

 

[Peshwa]

taking this news with a bucket of salt...these hypothetical offers are everywhere..lets see them materialize and then talk.

But in the meanwhile, dear HAL, please supply the IAF first. charity begins at home afterall..

 

[EAK]

indian press.. well whatever.. Lets make it first.. speculations about a plane that will be inducted god know when.. irony

 

[Blue Marlin]

Look at the pic ,your ans lies there only.
Look at the technician with screw driver technology ,why should anyone buy from pakistan, when the flight test data,the daddy of Jf 17 is china. And daddy itself not inducting its own toys.

look at your own jet before talking about others. oh and the tejas is not even "indigenous"

credit @Horus

 

[$@rJen]

Tejas is the best thing happened to us after the invention of wheel.
View attachment 301121

@HRK can you take some action he's violating the rules by trolling and derailing the thread

 

[Syed Asif Bukhari]

its not something to celebrate. JF 17 has also attracted lot of customers from Middle East , Latina America and Africa . First of all, induct Tejas in IAF and then talk about selling to other customers. After the retirement of Mig 27 , IAF squadron strength has further fallen. JF 17 is a success . Nearly 60 birds have already been inducted . Myanmar is going to buy JF17 . its confirmed . By the way , LCA Tejas components come from different nations . that is why , I think it will be quite difficult to sell Tejas . Any country can raise objections . By the way, Tejas uses Israeli radar . Will Israelis allow Indians to sell their technology to Egypt ?

 

[mkb95]

look at your own jet before talking about others. oh and the tejas is not even "indigenous"

credit @Horus

does this take away gripen's title of being indigenous?
all jf17 part are chinese since they have way bigger aircraft industry then india.dispute arises when somebody else claims it to be their indigenous plane which its not.

 

[muhammadali233]

A brain of peanut size can only think like this ,there is clear cut malfunction of LGB. Also The so called indigenous plane is still hold the edge over All metal Starship Jf17 .

LCA is flying high and faster while a squadron is due for next month.

.A working brain of size of peanut is better than having a huge piles of Hay instead of a brain.
I know LGB's these days they are not what they used to be.
Jf-17 would have been great if they had been made with the help and equipment from a 1/2 dozen countries.This all metal flies and works and shoots non functional lgbs
Well i can wish you good luck to fly your stripped out all carbon sports car and lets us fly our more practical JF-17
If tejas so great than why peruse Rafale which is of the same category.

@HRK can you take some action he's violating the rules by trolling and derailing the thread

Yes please.I did.

Thanks to Modi govt for not only expediting the LCA but looking to sell them which we never thought

Selling brings revenue and more funds for R&D.That is what Pak is also perusing.

 

[Blue Marlin]

does this take away gripen's title of being indigenous?
all jf17 part are chinese since they have way bigger aircraft industry then india.dispute arises when somebody else claims it to be their indigenous plane which its not.

yes i know. we vetoed the plan of saab selling the gripen to Argentina. thats what its all about, influence. as for your reply i was simply shutting up a troll. heck the jf-17 too. its engines are Russian. thats not indigenous.
but since the french designed the tejas and sold the designs and the rights they cant do nothing.

 

[ravi gupta]

.A working brain of size of peanut is better than having a huge piles of Hay instead of a brain.
I know LGB's these days they are not what they used to be.
Jf-17 would have been great if they had been made with the help and equipment from a 1/2 dozen countries.This all metal flies and works and shoots non functional lgbs
Well i can wish you good luck to fly your stripped out all carbon sports car and lets us fly our more practical JF-17
If tejas so great than why peruse Rafale which is of the same category.


Yes please.I did.

Selling brings revenue and more funds for R&D.That is what Pak is also perusing.

Tejas and Rafale are in different category.
Rafale is medium category with multirole capabilities.
Whlie LCA Tejas is in light category and in interceptor role.
Sukhoi MKI Twin engine heavy aircraft in Air Superiority role.

 

[Moon]

New Delhi: India’s Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, which was several years in the making, has now caught the attention of foreign buyers with Sri Lanka and Egypt evincing interest in the indigenously built fighter jet.

Sri Lanka had recently rejected Pakistan’s JF-17 aircraft built with Chinese help, while Egypt had last year signed a contract for 24 French-made Rafale fighter jets.

The two countries are interested in the current version of the Tejas and not the upgraded one which will be rolled out later.

However, state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the manufacturer of Tejas, is focusing on delivering the aircraft to the IAF first.
“While there is an interest which has been shown (by other countries), let us get the product first to our own customer. The confidence that will come to others when our own Air Force flies it will be immense. So at first, we should at least meet the initial requirement of the IAF,” HAL chairman T Suvarna Raju told PTI.

Refusing to share information on which are the countries that have evinced interest in Tejas, he expressed confidence in his marketing team and said they are equipped to take forward the talks. However, Defence sources said that the two countries which have evinced interest in Tejas were Sri Lanka and Egypt.

He said the “current version is more than enough” for smaller nations.

Two things that go in favour of the Tejas are its lower cost and flying ability.

“We have proved its flying ability and the aircraft, for that class, is a terrific one. We did take some time but we need to remember that DRDO and us did everything from the scratch,” Raju said.

Raju said that the upgraded version of Tejas, with Active Electrically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, Unified Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite, mid-air refuelling capacity and beyond the vision range missiles, will cost between Rs 275 crore and Rs 300 crore.

Sources said enquiries by foreign countries came during the Bahrain air show in January, the first time that Tejas flew outside the country.

The decision to send Tejas abroad was of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who has put his weight behind the aircraft.

LCA Tejas performed 8-G (gravity) pull, vertical loop, slow fly-past and barrel roll at the air show, which the Indian officials described as “historic”.

Interestingly, soon after the announcement of Tejas’ participation in Bahrain, Pakistan had withdrawn its JF-17 aircraft from the show despite having

READ MORE

Congratulations to HAL, and IAF. It's possible for India to sell the bird to Sri Lanka, and because of the history between India and Egypt, Egypt cn also be a customer (albeit Egypt already operates various "top of the line" birds).
So yes, if Tejas is successfully integrated into the IAF, it will win customers, maybe Israel could be a potential buyer.

 

[Kompromat]

Egypt will buy LCA with almost 80% of avionics from Israel