IAF To Order 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Worth Of Rs 45,000: Reports

TPI Staff September 6, 2019

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Mumbai: In huge development for Defence manufacturing capability, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is expected to place orders worth around Rs 45,000 crore with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to acquire 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas fighters news agency ANI reported.

The Indian Air Force issued a tender for 83 LCA nearly two years ago and the project was stuck on pricing issues as the government and the Air Force felt that the price offered by HAL was slightly higher.

Senior defense sources told ANI, “The cost committee of the Ministry of Defense has set the cost of the 83 LCA Mark 1A aircraft at around Rs 45,000 crore and the Indian Air Force is now expected to place orders for these aircraft in the next few weeks. “

LCAs have been fully designed and developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). Earlier this year, DRDO chief G. Satesh Reddy presented the IAF for LCA in Aero-India and the Final Operational Clearance (IOC) certificate for the Ministry of Defence.

Sources said that this would be the first order of its kind for any Indian firm and it would provide a major boost to the indigenous defence industry. More than 65 percent of the Rs 45,000 crore order will remain within the country and help create jobs in both the private and public sectors.

The first LCA Mark 1A aircraft are likely to be built by 2023 when HAL is made into the initial operational clearance and final operational clearance standards with an initial 40 aircraft supplies that have already participated and proven themselves in the IAF practice Such as exercise Gagan power.

As per the requirements submitted by the Indian Air Force, the first LCA Mark 1A aircraft will be supplied in 36 months from the signing of the contract. The new LCA Mark 1A aircraft will have advanced avionics and radar compared to the initial 40 LCA supplied to the Air Force.

(With ANI Inputs)

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