IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Thursday spoke on the current status & future plans of Indian Air Force after he was given a demonstration of LCA TEJAS MK-2

Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Thursday demonstrated the upgrades on Tejas program and capabilities of other two indigenous platforms. He addressed the media after his interaction with the crew and designers of the platforms to understand current status and future plans.

The IAF chief, while speaking to ANI about the status of air defence paraphernalia said, “In the view of rapidly depleting strength of fighter squadrons of IAF & phasing out of the MiG-21 aircraft in coming years, it's essential that laid down timelines for the projects are adhered to."

The senior defence official further spoke about the gains that the Light Combat Aircraft TEJAS MK-2 development project will provide India. He said the indigenous design and development of our next-generation fighter aircraft will get a tremendous boost from TEJAS MK-2.

He added, “It'll further 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative in domain of aircraft manufacturing"

The Air Chief Marshal said that TEJAS MK-2 will fill a critical capability void in air defence for the country. Thus he asserted that, “..it's essential that all stakeholders should need to work in tandem to ensure the timely induction of this aircraft into IAF."

On Wednesday, the Cabinet Committee on Security had approved the indigenous TEJAS MK-2 fighter aircraft project.

Aeronautical Development Agency chief Girish Deodhare said, “This would pave way for designers to develop an advanced 17.5-tonne single-engine aircraft."

The fighter jet will be developed at a cost of over ₹6,500 crore, in addition to the ₹2,500 crore previously sanctioned for it.

TEJAS, manufactured by HAL, is a single-engine highly agile multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments.