Indian Air Force Set to Get 1st LCA Mark 1A Fighter Jet Soon, HAL Working to Deliver it by March 31

New Delhi: The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is making all possible efforts to ensure that the first Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mark-1A fighter aircraft is delivered to the Indian Air Force (IAF) by the end of March. Not only this, the state-owned Indian public sector aerospace and defence company is also working towards the delivery of the first twin-seater trainer version aircraft to the IAF at the earliest, report suggests.

As per information, the HAL has been working towards delivering the first LCA fighter aircraft as part of a Rs 48,000-crore Defence Ministry's deal, inked in February 2021, for the procurement of 83 Tejas Mark 1A fighter jets for the IAF.

An official said, the work is on towards meeting the delivery by the end of March 31 and this would be a big boost for the indigenous fighter aircraft project where an advanced aircraft would be provided to the IAF.

Tejas Mark 1A is indigenously designed fighter aircraft

The Indian Air Force has already signed a contract worth over Rs 48,000 crore with the HAL for supplying 83 LCA planes while there is clearance for buying 97 more of them at Rs 65,000 crore.

Tejas Mark 1A is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured fighter aircraft with more than 65 per cent indigenous components.

The indigenous light combat aircraft Tejas Mark 1A fighter aircraft is planned to be deployed at Nal air base in Rajasthan's Bikaner near the Pakistan border. The first squadron of aircraft is planned to be deployed at the Nal air base from where it can take care of the western adversary.

The public sector undertaking has already received orders for 83 of these aircraft and has to build 180 of them, with the Defence Acquisition Council having cleared 97 of these planes.

The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also cleared the IAF's Su-30 fighter aircraft upgrade programme. It is learnt that mega procurement projects and the Su-30 upgrade programme are expected to cost the exchequer Rs 1.3 lakh crore

The HAL has already carried out ground trials including slow taxi runs. The LCA Mark 1 aircraft were inducted into the IAF in 2016 and two of their squadrons including 45 Squadron and 18 Squadron.

Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari had termed the clearance of the 97 LCA a "landmark event".

“We already had 40 LCAs of the original IOC and FOC version. So with this, in the long run, the strength of the Indian Air Force will grow to 220 LCA mark 1As, which will equip almost ten squadrons of the Air Force,” he said after the deal got cleared by the defence acquisition council.

The Indian Air Force sees the 97 Light Combat Aircraft as an ideal fit to replace the depleting strength of the combat aircraft in the force in video of the phasing out of the MiG-Series planes.