Tejas deal a big boost for India’s self-reliance and defence preparedness

(Image: PTI)

The new year seems to have brought cheer for the Indian Air Force (IAF) with the government approving India’s largest-ever indigenous defence procurement deal to buy 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

According to Ministry of Defence (MoD) sources, the HAL is to deliver 73 Tejas Mk 1A and 10 Tejas Mk 1 trainer jets to the IAF by 2026. The Rs 48,000-crore compact includes design and development of infrastructure sanctions worth Rs 1,202 crore.

In a tweet last on January 13, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the HAL has established second line manufacturing facilities at its Nasik and Bengaluru divisions “to steer LCA-Mk1A production for timely deliveries to the IAF.” The government has also given the nod for the IAF to develop infrastructure for handling repairs or servicing of these aircraft at its base depots so that the turnaround time for mission critical systems would be reduced, thereby enhancing operational readiness.

Designed and developed indigenously by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and built by HAL, the Tejas is a single-engine, delta wing aircraft designed for aerial combat and offensive air support. The multi-role lightweight fourth generation fighter is equipped with a range of air-to-air and air-to-surface precision guided missiles, and has a service ceiling of 15 km carrying a payload of 3,500 kgs at supersonic speeds. The state-of-the-art composite materials used to build the aircraft have apparently helped its designers to cut the jet’s weight dramatically, which helps in evading radar detection.

Another major plus of the Tejas is that it is designed to offer easy integration for both European and Russian weapon systems. This is enormously useful for planners considering the fact that the IAF has a fleet replete with Russian as well as European platforms. Interestingly, this also augments the LCA’s potential for export, since foreign buyers will have the option of integrating different platforms on the aircraft.

The LCA, however, has had a troubled journey from the drawing board, with its final operational clearance slipping for years before it finally came through in February 2019. There was more turbulence ahead for the LCA even after the MoD firmed up the mega-deal to buy 83 Tejas Mark 1As for the IAF as price negotiations with the HAL dragged on.

But all that is history now as the Cabinet Committee on Security has given the green light for this nimble fighter to join the IAF fleet in numbers that once seemed improbable. Sources indicate that the IAF plans to have 40 Tejas Mk 1s and 83 Tejas Mk 1As initially, followed by around six squadrons of Tejas Mk IIs eventually.

The impact of New Delhi’s decision to plump for an indigenous fighter for the IAF will be three-fold. First, the government’s ‘Make in India’ mantra will resonate louder, giving a big boost to the idea of self-reliance, or ‘Aatmanirbhar’, in India’s defence preparedness.

Second, the deal depends significantly on technology inputs outsourced from the industry. From all accounts, scores of private companies such as Larsen and Toubro and Dynamatic Technologies are supplying aircraft parts (like wing and fuselage) to the LCA project. This will certainly provide more employment opportunities.

The third — and perhaps most crucial — impact of the deal will be felt by the IAF. The air force is staring at an alarmingly depleting fleet strength, which currently stands at 30 squadrons — each with 18 fighter aircraft — as against a sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons. At this rate, without inducting the 36 Rafale fighters and 123 indigenous LCA, the IAF will probably be left with a mere 24 squadrons in, say, another 10 years. The situation will worsen as the air force phases out four squadrons of its mainstay MiG 21 Bis ground attack jets by 2023, ceding the IAF’s numerical superiority to the Pakistani Air Force and China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force on the western and eastern flanks respectively.

The best bet for India to resolve this looming threat may be to speed up the development of the LCA Mk II: a twin-engine variant of the LCA. The LCA Mk II has its role cut out: to fill the void left by the phasing out of the IAF’s Mirage-2000 medium weight fighters which is expected to happen in 2027. But the LCA Mk II will only make its maiden flight next year and is not scheduled to get into production for at least another six years. So its induction into the IAF, when it does happen, will not have come a moment too soon.