Indian Air Force / Death will rain on enemies from the sky the hunter going to meet the Air Force

Indian Air Force: The Indian Air Force will get new air combat power from next year. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will start supplying indigenous fighter aircraft Tejas Mk-1A from 2023 and by 2027, the entire 83 aircraft will be received by the Air Force. These will have 73 Tejas Mk-1A fighters and 10 trainer aircraft. Similarly, the supply of 40 Tejas Mk-1 aircraft contracted earlier will also be completed by the middle of 2023.

Indian Air Force has received 25 Tejas Mk-1 so far

So far, the Indian Air Force has received 25 out of the total 40 contracted Tejas Mk-1 aircraft. The supply of the first lot of 11 other trainer aircraft is expected by March next year. The remaining four aircraft are to be supplied to the IAF by the middle of 2023. He acknowledged that at present the fleet of fighter jets with the Indian Air Force is below 31 Squadron. That is why various approaches are being adopted to raise the squadron under the 'Make in India' initiative. The Air Force is trying to fill the shortfall of the squadron through LCA variants, MRFA and AMCA in a phased manner.

Decision taken to increase 8 more squadrons by 2030

A squadron of the Indian Air Force consists of 16 warplanes and two aircraft of pilot training. At present, the Indian Air Force has 30 squadrons of fighter aircraft, whereas for 'two front war' preparations, there should be at least 38 squadrons. Therefore, the Air Force has decided to increase 8 more squadrons by 2030. 75 per cent of the newly formed 8 Squadron is to be completed with indigenous LCAs and fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft. 40 aircraft of LCA Mk-1 have already been ordered to HAL. Of these, 25 aircraft have been received and are in service of the Air Force.

43 improvements over LCA Mk-1A in 40 aircraft

In these 40 aircraft, 43 types of improvements are to be made as compared to the LCA Mk-1A. These include air-to-air refueling, installation of long-range Beyond Visual Range missiles, advanced electronic warfare systems to intercept enemy radars and missiles. HAL has started the process of manufacturing 18 two-seater trainer variants by stopping the manufacturing of the single-seater Tejas market jet after completing the assembly of 32 jets as per the previous contract. Of this, 8 trainer jets are from the first order and 10 are from the second order of 83 aircraft made during Aero India. These will be supplied to the Air Force from March 2024 and will be inducted by 2028-29. Tejas Mk-1A gets digital radar warning receiver, an external ECM pod, a self-protection jammer, AESA radar, ease of maintenance and improved avionics, aerodynamics, radar. The advanced short range air-to-air missile and Astra Mk-1 air-to-air missile will be installed in Tejas Mk-1. Of these 123 Tejas Mk-1 and Tejas Mk-1A 6 squadrons are to be formed. The Indian Air Force has formed two squadrons 'Flying Daggers' and 'Flying Bullets' for Tejas. The first squadron of Tejas Mark-1A fighter jets will be formed at Naliya in Gujarat and the second at Phalodi airbase in Rajasthan. Both these borders are close to the Pakistan border.