Indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) TEJAS completed seven years of service in the Indian Air Force (IAF) on July 1. However, key questions remain on the speed of production of jets by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

As per plan, in the next 14-15 years starting February next year, India needs to produce 480 fighter jets on its own — 380 for the IAF and 100 twin-engine jets for the Navy. How quickly can these jets be produced will define country’s military readiness and self-reliance.

The delay in making the first 40 TEJAS (the ones the IAF is using now) jets is a bad memory. The IAF ordered 20 planes under a Rs 2,813-crore contract in 2006 and another 20 under a Rs 5,989- crore agreement in December 2010. All 40 were to be delivered by December 2016. However, the deliveries were completed in February this year — seven years behind schedule.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, in its report to the House on March 21 this year, had spoken about the delay in making the TEJAS jets.

The existing annual production capacity of HAL is up to 24 jets after the opening of a new facility at Nashik. In order to meet the target of 480 jets, the production capacity has to be enhanced to 40 jets per annum.

“The deliveries of the 83 TEJAS MK-1A aircraft are expected to commence in February 2024,” the Ministry of Defence said.

Sources said it would to be followed by 120 TEJAS MK-2 jets, 126 jets of the advanced medium combat aircraft and 100 twin-engine deck-based fighters for the Navy. Another order of 50 jets of TEJAS MK-1A, beyond the 83 ordered, is also expected, they said.

The IAF presently has 32 squadrons (16-18 planes each) of fighter jets against the 42 needed to tackle a collusive two-front threat against Pakistan and China.

Over the next two-three years, all four squadrons (each one has 16-18 planes) of the Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter jets will retire. The IAF’s SEPECAT Jaguar, MiG-29 and Mirage-2000 jet fleets — all inducted in phases during the 1980s — are slated to retire in batches beyond 2029-30. These four types of jets are about 250 in number and are operating on an extended lifecycle.

480 Jets To Be Manufactured Over 14-15 Years

★ Starting February 2024, India needs to produce 480 fighter jets on its own — 380 for the IAF and 100 twin-engine jets for the Navy — over the next 14-15 years

★ In the past, a delay in the manufacturing of the first batch of 40 TEJAS jets had left an erroneous impression

★ The IAF ordered 20 planes under a Rs 2,813-crore contract in 2006 and another 20 under a Rs 5,989- crore agreement in December 2010

★ All 40 were to be delivered by December 2016. However, the deliveries were completed in February this year — seven years behind schedule