Rs.50k-cr Tejas, Tata-Airbus deals to be linked in months

The Indian government is inching to complete two major long-pending military aircraft deals worth over Rs 50,000 crore in the New Year. The contracts for 83 indigenous Tejas fighters and 56 medium-transport aircraft through a Tata-Airbus joint venture are set to be inked within the next few months.

The over Rs 37,000 crore order for 83 Tejas Mark-1A jets from defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd will be the biggest-ever deal in the indigenous military aviation sector.

These 83 fighters, the deliveries of which will begin three years after the contract is inked, will have 43 improvements over the 40 Tejas Mark-1 already ordered by the IAF.

The Tata-Airbus project to build 56 twin-turboprop C-295 aircraft will replace the old Avro-748 aircraft of the IAF. In turn, this will be the first time an Indian private sector company will enter the defence aerospace arena.

While Airbus will supply the first 16 aircraft in two years after the contract is signed, the rest 40 will thereafter be built in India within eight years.

Both the projects have been sent to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for the final approval. The overall cost of acquiring the 83 single-engine Tejas fighters and their support package has been cut down from the earlier around Rs 56,500 crore being demanded by HAL after protracted negotiations.

The IAF’s two Tejas squadrons namely the Flying Daggers and Flying Bullets at Sulur, have till now inducted only around 20 of the original 40 Tejas Mark-1 fighters which were all slated for delivery by December 2016 under two contracts worth Rs 8,802 crore inked earlier.

The 83 Tejas Mark-1A fighters will have 43 improvements to improve maintainability, AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar to replace existing mechanically-steered radar, air-to-air refuelling, long-range BVR (beyond visual range) missiles and advanced electronic warfare to jam enemy radars and missiles.