| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| India's air force to buy up to 40 non-MiGs |
| 2005-02-10 |
| India's air force said on Thursday it plans to sign a deal worth up to 900 million dollars with state-owned aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics to buy as many as 40 supersonic fighter jets. The planes will use GE-404F engines made by US-based General Electric after Kaveri engines developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation suffered development problems, Air Chief Marshal S.P.Tyagi said. The deal would involve a commitment to buy 20 Light Combat Aircraft and an option to purchase an additional 20. "The cost of each aircraft is around one billion rupees (22.9 million dollars)," Tyagi said. He gave no time for the deal to be concluded but said it would be soon. The planes are intended to replace India's ageing mainstay MiG fighter fleet and will take to the skies after 2008, Tyagi told reporters at Aero India 2005, a five-day international aerospace and defence show. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 very strange omen: Tejas was also the name of a great ZZ TOP album.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-02-10 11:50:42 PM |
| #2 Yes, I think the ban was lifted a couple of years ago. Some more details: [India News]: Bangalore, Feb 10 : The Indian Air Force (IAF) will acquire at least 20 indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft (LCAs) soon, Air Chief SP Tyagi said today. The Air Force will ink the 914 million-dollar deal for "Tejas", a multi-role fighter plane, with the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), he said. The contract allows the force to acquire another 20 aircraft at a later stage. "We will sign a contract for 20 LCAs, and with an option of getting 20 more I would say that up to 40 aeroplanes. The contract will come up very, very quickly," Tyagi told reporters at an international Aero show ongoing in Bangalore. The single-engine supersonic fighter is expected to replace the IAF's aging fleet from 2010 but Tyagi assured the latest induction will in no way interfere with other acquisitions of the Air Force. "All air forces in the world need big aircraft like SU-30, there is a place for more. I don't think we should mix the 126 aircrafts with the requirement of the LCA," he said. The world's lightest combat aircraft, the eight-tonne "Tejas" has been designed by the government's Aeronautical Development Agency and built by the HAL. India tested its first LCA in 2001 and another version last year, and has used software-driven "fly-by-wire" technologies and advanced lightweight composite materials to build the aircraft that can be used for attack, defence and spying. (ANI) |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-02-10 11:40:23 PM |
| #1 The LCA was originally meant to use modified GE-404's, and they've had a lot of problems from trying to switch to use something else after the US embargoed them after their nuclear tests. Has the US had a change in policy? |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-02-10 5:25:15 PM |