Defence Ministry signs Rs 62,370 crore contract to buy 97 additional Tejas LCA Mk-1A from HAL

New Delhi: The Defence Ministry on Thursday signed its biggest contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bengaluru to buy 97 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft Mk-1A at a cost of Rs 62,370 crore.

The mega deal to procure 68 fighters and 29 twin-seater trainer aircraft would commence by 2027-28 and was to be completed in six years, official sources said. The Cabinet Committee on Security approved the contract last month.

The aircraft will have an indigenous content of over 64%, with 67 additional items incorporated, over and above the previous LCA Mk1A contract to purchase 83 aircraft signed in February 2021.

Taken together, HAL is to supply 180 single-engine indigenous fighter jets to the Indian Air Force, which is struggling with a depleting force level.

“The supply of these aircraft by HAL would enhance the operational capability of the IAF to continue their unhindered operations and strengthen defence preparedness of the country,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in a social media post.

“This contract reflects the trust and confidence of the government and the armed forces in the indigenously developed aircraft Tejas, which will be the mainstay of the IAF in the years to come.”

The home-grown, single-engine aircraft is an advanced fighter jet integrated with Beyond Visual Range missile and air-to-air refueling facility.

The integration of advanced indigenous systems such as the UTTAM active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, DRDO’s Swayam Raksha Kavach (a multi-layer protection suit), and control surface actuators will make the aircraft far more capable.

“The LCA Mk1A is the most advanced variant of the indigenous fighter aircraft and will serve as a potent platform to meet the operational requirements of the IAF,” a Defence Ministry official said.

This is the second HAL’s LCA Tejas Mk-1A contract after the first one was signed in February 2021 to deliver 83 indigenous fighter aircraft – 73 fighter and 10 trainer aircraft - at a cost of close to Rs 47,000 crore.

Though the delivery was to start in 2024, the Bengaluru-based aviation company is yet to supply a single aircraft to the IAF primarily due to a delay of more than a year by the US aviation major General Electric to supply the F-404 engines.

With GE supplying three engines so far – and a fourth one is expected within days – the first two Tejas LCA MK-1A are to be handed over to the IAF shortly after weapon trials.

Ironically, the deal was inked a day before the IAF’s last two squadrons of MiG-21 will retire from the service after six decades of flying. The Tejas LCA was conceived as a replacement of MiG-21 but it was not at a time when IAF was phasing out the Russian jets.

The Tejas LCA project is currently supported by a vendor base of nearly 105 Indian companies involved in making the components and the production is expected to give a boost to the domestic aerospace ecosystem.