The wait of the Indian Air Force (IAF) for light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk 1A fighter jet—an advanced variant of Tejas Mk 1—is set to end soon.
If reports are to be believed, the first batch of the single engine multi-role fighter Tejas Mk 1A, which has been designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will be delivered to the Indian Air Force in October.
The HAL has a contract with the government to provide 83 Tejas aircraft, including 73 Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft and 10 Tejas Mk-1 trainer aircraft. IAF reportedly intends to induct nearly 300 Tejas fighters in the next 15 years to strengthen its fighter capabilities.
According to media reports, the fighter aircraft, which weighs approximately 5,450kg and has a maximum take-off weight of 13,500kg, is currently undergoing the final phase of trials after finishing a few changes that were required in the Israeli software which is in use in the aircraft.
The Print has reported that the first batch of Tejas Mk 1A combat jet will have category B engines, which are engines that were previously used or retained from the agreement with American engine maker General Electric (GE) doing business as GE Aerospace.
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One of the reasons for the long wait for the delivery of the combat aircraft to the Air Force was the delay from GE Aerospace for the supply of its F4O4 engines to HAL. In July, the engine maker had said, “GE Aerospace is working with our partner HAL and suppliers to resolve constraints and deliver F404-IN20 engines for the LCA Mk1 (A) programme.”
The new engines from GE are expected to arrive by November.