Aero India: Govt to award ₹48k cr contract to HAL for 83 advanced Tejas jets

The deal for the 83 Mk-1A jets will take the total number of Tejas variants ordered to 123. The 40 LCAs already ordered by the IAF are in the initial operational clearance and the more advanced final operational clearance configurations

On the opening day of Aero India 2021 on February 3, the government will award state-owned plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) a ₹48,000 crore contract to supply 83 LCA Mk-1A jets to the Indian Air Force, officials aware of the matter said on Tuesday.

Indian Air Force's Tejas aircraft performs during rehearsals for the Aero India 2021, at the Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru on February 2. (PTI)

Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on January 13 approved the proposal to buy 83 advanced Tejas jets to bolster the IAF’s combat potential, with defence minister Rajnath Singh calling the largest indigenous defence procurement deal “a game changer for self-reliance in the Indian defence manufacturing” sector.

The CCS approval came 10 months after the ministry gave a green light to the purchase of 83 LCA (light combat aircraft) Mk-1A jets from HAL. The aircraft to be ordered include 73 Mk-1A fighter jets and 10 LCA Mk-1 trainer aircraft.

The 40 LCAs already ordered by the IAF are in the initial operational clearance and the more advanced final operational clearance (FOC) configurations. The LCA Mk-1A will come with additional improvements over the FOC aircraft, making it the most advanced Tejas variant so far.

The Mk-1A variant is expected to come with digital radar warning receivers, external self-protection jammer pods, active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, advanced beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles and significantly improved maintainability.