The Ministry of Defence (MoD), India is scheduled to take up two of India’s biggest-ever fighter aircraft projects worth Rs 1.3 lakh crore for discussion in a crucial meeting today.
This includes buying of 97 new LCA Mark 1A fighter aircraft and indigenously upgrading 84 Su-30 MKI combat planes.
As per the sources, the 97 LCA Mark1A project which is expected to be worth around Rs 65,000 crore would be the largest ever fighter aircraft deal in the country.
Further, it will help country to build a strong fighter aircraft manufacturing ecosystem across the country and also help the Indian Air Force (IAF) to replace its MiG-21 fleet which is being phased out.
Noteworthy, the IAF has already ordered 83 LCA Mark1A fighter planes and their deliveries are expected to start in February-March 2024.
On the other hand, the Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft project upgrade programme is also one of the biggest ever programmes planned to be done completely indigenously where Indian weapons, sensors and radars would be fitted on Russian-origin planes.
The project is expected to cost around Rs 64,000 crores.
The Indian firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited will be doing the complete design and development work on the aircraft which includes equipping the aircraft with the latest Virupaksha AESA radars.
The Su-30 fighter jets are the mainstay of the Indian Air Force with 260 of them already in service. The jets have been inducted in different batches and have now formed around 50 per cent of the fighter fleet.
Moreover, the Su-30MKI fleet upgrade plan is also seen by the IAF as an opportunity for exports as many countries in Southeast Asia and Africa operate the plane and can use these solutions to provide advanced capabilities to their fleets.
Source: https://aninews.in/
