Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. said the Indian Air Force will procure 97 more LCA Tejas, its topline fighter aircraft, after handing over its twin-seater version at a ceremony in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
The LCA Tejas twin-seater is a lightweight, all-weather multi-role 4.5-generation aircraft designed to support the training requirements of the IAF. It can also augment itself to the role of a fighter in cases of necessity.
The aircraft is decked with state-of-the-art technology, agility, and versatility, which will provide suitable training to IAF pilots, according to the defence ministry. The IAF has already placed an order for 83 LCAs with HAL.
HAL hands over the first LCA Tejas twin seater to IAF in presence of Raksha Rajya Mantri, Mr Ajay Bhatt at a ceremony in Bengaluru.“I am proud to be part of this historic occasion and salute the spirit of HAL which has been spearheading Swadeshi manufacturing in Defence”, he said pic.twitter.com/b7N8Oew3BC
At the ceremony, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal V. R. Chaudhari, said that the IAF would be procuring 97 more LCA, and with this, it would have 220 LCA in its inventory, HAL said in a press statement.
HAL has an order of 18 twin-seaters from IAF and is planning to deliver eight of them during 2023–24. The remaining 10 would be delivered progressively by 2026–27.
The production of the LCA twin-seater variant adds India to the list of very few elite countries that have created such a capability and have them operational in their defence forces, HAL said.
In September, the Defence Acquisition Council accorded the acceptance of necessity for the procurement of 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft with associated equipment from HAL.
This followed July's announcement of HAL's tie-up with France's Safran Helicopter Engines SAS to jointly develop helicopter engines for the Indian armed forces, a second such partnership to transfer strategic defence technology to India after the tie-up with American major GE Aerospace for fighter jet engines.
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