India has signed a $7 billion order for 97 domestically developed LCA Tejas fighter jets as its air force retires its outgoing Russian MiG-21 jets after decades of service.
The first Tejas jets, meaning “brilliance” in Hindi, were commissioned into the air force in 2016, with the latest commissioning for the fourth-generation version of the fighter, the Mk-1A.
India, one of the world’s largest arms importers, has made the modernisation of its forces a top priority, and made repeated pushes to boost local arms production.
India’s Ministry of Defence said it had “signed a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for procurement of 97 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A, including 68 fighters and 29 twin seaters”.
HAL is a government defence manufacturer.
“The delivery of these aircraft would commence during 2027-28 and be completed over a period of six years,” the defence ministry added.
New Delhi is eyeing threats from multiple nations, especially neighbouring Pakistan. India fought a a four-day conflict in May, their worst clash since 1999.
Both sides claimed victory, each boasting of downing the other’s fighter jets.
The Tejas jet ordered is the “most advanced variant of the indigenously designed and manufactured fighter aircraft”, the defence ministry added, saying it will be “a potent platform” for the air force.
India is scheduled to hold a flypast ceremony at a major air force base in Chandigarh on Friday, marking the final flight of its Soviet-era MiG-21s, which have been in use since the 1960s.
India also signed a multi-billion-dollar deal in April to purchase 26 Rafale fighter jets from France’s Dassault Aviation.
They will join the 36 Rafale fighters that have already been acquired.
In August, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced that India was collaborating with a French company to develop and manufacture fighter jet engines domestically.
This decade, India has opened an expansive helicopter factory, launched its first domestically made aircraft carrier, warships, and submarines, and conducted a successful long-range hypersonic missile test.
India’s latest test was of an Agni-Prime missile with a 2,000 kilometre (1,242 mile) range on Wednesday — this time fitted onto a special railway-based system.
Does India Need More Than Rafale to Match China?
India may have just spent billions of dollars on hi-tech French fighter jets, but experts say it needs to do a lot more if it is going to face up to an increasingly assertive China.
The world’s top defense importer has signed several major contracts as part of a $100 billion upgrade since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014.
However, it has been slow to replace its dwindling fleet of Russian MiG-21s, dubbed “Flying Coffins” due to their poor safety record.
An agreement to purchase 36 cutting-edge Rafale jets from France’s Dassault aims to address this issue.
“It will give the air force an arrowhead. Our air force has old aircraft, 1970s and 1980s generation aircraft, and for the first time in about 25-30 years, we will have a quantum jump in technology,” defence analyst Gulshan Luthra told AFP.
“Rafale is loaded with the best of the technologies, and we need it.”
The air force says it needs at least 42 squadrons to protect its northern and western borders with Pakistan and China.
It currently has around 32, each comprising 18 aircraft. Air force representatives warned India’s parliament last year that the number of squadrons could fall to 25 by 2022, putting India on a par with its nuclear-armed neighbour and arch-rival Pakistan.
But the real concern is China, an ally of Pakistan, whose military capacities are way in excess of India’s.
“Pakistan, we can handle. Pakistan, we can muscle our way, but China, no way we can handle,” said Luthra. “And if China comes to the aid of Pakistan, then we’re stuck.”
China and India fought a brief war in 1962, and the border between the neighbours has never been formally demarcated, although they have signed accords to maintain peace.
The Rafale deal, due to be signed in New Delhi on Friday, will supply another two squadrons, although it will be three years before delivery of the jets begins.
It falls way short of previous proposals for India to buy 126 of the jets, which stalled over costs and assembly guarantees.
Currently being used for bombing missions over Syria and Iraq, the Rafale can fly distances of up to 3,800 kilometres (2,360 miles).
Experts say it will allow the air force to strike targets in Pakistan and China from within Indian territory.
However, critics argue that the Rafale purchase is an expensive solution to the problem, even after India negotiated hard to reduce the price to a reported 7.9 billion euros ($8.8 billion).
‘Can’t Afford Mercedes’
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar reportedly said last year the larger Rafale deal was too expensive. “We are not buying the rest. I also feel like having a BMW and a Mercedes. But I don’t because I can’t afford it.”
Modi has stated that he aims to end India’s status as the world’s leading defence importer and to achieve 70 percent domestic manufacturing of hardware by the turn of the decade.
His government lifted a cap on foreign investment in defence to 49 percent last year.
Many now believe India will use the money saved from scrapping the larger Rafale order to invest in its first domestically developed light fighter plane, the Tejas.
The aircraft, touted as the smallest and lightest supersonic fighter aircraft of their class, are designed and manufactured in India, although some components are imported.
Defence analyst Ajai Shukla said the purchase of 36 Rafales would “placate Dassault, the Indian Air Force and public opinion” after the larger deal was scrapped, but did not make good operational sense.
“You don’t replace a small, light fighter plane with an extraordinarily expensive heavy monster like Rafale,” he said.
© Agence France-Presse
