The Air Force will get Tejas Mk 1A at the end of June: 12 jet fighters will join the fleet this year; The deal was done in 2021 for ₹ 48 thousand crores
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A new aircraft is going to be added to the Air Force fleet just a few weeks after Operation Sindoor. The Air Force will get the next generation aircraft Tejas Mk 1A of the indigenous fighter aircraft Tejas at the end of this month. This fighter will join the fleet after the final process of flying test is completed.
In February 2021, a deal was signed with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 83 Tejas Mk 1A aircraft for Rs 48 thousand crore. Their delivery was to be done in March 2024. But due to delay in the supply of engine F404 IN20 from American company General Electric (GE), the delivery was delayed by about one and a quarter years.
According to HAL sources, new engines have started arriving from this March. By the end of this year, 12 Tejas Mk 1A aircraft will be handed over to the Air Force.
Tejas will replace MiG-21, MiG-27 and Jaguar With the strong intentions of Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat, the government has signed a deal with HAL for a total of 180 Tejas Mk 1A. The first consignment is of 83 aircraft while the second consignment has a deal of 97 aircraft for Rs 67 thousand crore.
Tejas will replace MiG-21, MiG-27 and Jaguar which are being phased out of the Air Force. There should be 42 aircraft in an Air Force fleet, which has remained 30. In a decade, more than 350 jets of Tejas Mk 1, Mk 1A, Mk 2 will join the Air Force. The first Tejas Mk 2 can be received in the year 2028-29.
Air Force Chief had expressed displeasure over the delay Air Chief Marshal Amarpreet Singh had expressed displeasure over the delay in the purchase and delivery of defense systems on May 29. He had said that there is not a single project that has been completed on time. Why do we make such promises which cannot be fulfilled? Many times while signing a contract we know that it will not be completed on time but still we sign it. This spoils the entire system.
