Touchdown exercise of Indian Air Force Mirage-2000 at Agra Expressway

NEW DELHI: Thirty-one aircraft of the Indian Air Force have been involved in accidents in the last four years, the government informed the Lok Sabha today. 

In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said 10 accidents had taken place in 2014-15 while the number was six in 2015-16 and 10 in 2016-17. 

The number of accidents reported in 2017-18 was five. 

"Every aircraft accident in the Indian Air Force is investigated by a Court of Inquiry (CoI) to ascertain the cause of accident," Bhamre said.

He said phasing out of the aircraft and their replacement with new generation aircraft depends upon national security, strategic objectives and operational requirements of the defence forces.

On a question about whether some political experts have asked the government to issue a white paper on the Rafale fighter jet deal, Bhamre said no such proposal has been received.

The Congress has been attacking the government over the Rafale deal, claiming that the deal negotiated under its rule was much cheaper than the contract signed by the Modi government to procure 36 Rafale fighter jets from France at a cost of Rs 58,000 crore.

Replying to a separate question, Bhamre said the government has sanctioned enhancement of production rate of the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft Tejas from eight aircraft annually to 16 aircraft.