End of an Era, Indian Air Force retires MiG-21s

On October 3, 2023, Air Chief Marshal (ACM) VR Chaudhari, the head of the Indian Air Force (IAF), announced during a pre-annual Air Force Day press briefing that the phase-out of the MiG-21Bison aircraft is nearing completion. According to ACM Chaudhari, this year's Air Force Day flypast, celebrating the 91st anniversary on October 8, will mark the final participation of the MiG-21Bison.

Currently, there are still three squadrons of MiG-21Bison in operation with IAF: No.3 Squadron Cobras at Nal/Bikaner AFS, No.4 Squadron Oorials at Uttarlai AFS, and No.23 Squadron Panthers at Suratgarh AFS.
The MiG-21's successor is the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. Presently, the IAF has two operational squadrons equipped with LCA Tejas Mk1. The delivery of the first LCA Tejas Mk1A is scheduled to commence in February 2024.

The Air Force Commander mentioned that in addition to the previous agreement for 83 LCA-Mk1A aircraft, an order for an additional 97 fighter jets of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark-1A will be finalized later this year. "We will enter into an agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). They might also distribute some of the work to private companies." It's important to note that the figure of 97 is not intended to decrease the current estimate for the Tejas Mark.

Argentina Starts Evaluating US-Origin F-16 Fighting Falcons In Denmark

A top delegation of the Argentine Air Force is reportedly in Denmark to evaluate second-hand F-16s. The South American nation appears to have postponed the technical evaluation of India’s Tejas Light combat aircraft (LCA).

Along with the Danish alternative, Argentina is also considering the Chinese-built JF-17 Thunder and India’s Hindustan Aeronautic Limited (HAL) Tejas aircraft. 

The delegation consisted of experts and technicians that went to the European nation to assess the offered aircraft.

Technical teams and experts are currently researching and reviewing bids from China, India, and Denmark. The F-16 A/B MLU aircraft is proposed to Argentina under the joint efforts of Copenhagen and Washington. 

Previously, there were speculations that Argentina had finalized the Chinese JF-17 for its Air Force during the pandemic. 

Reports claimed that China had sent a few JF-17 jets to Argentina for evaluation. In response to this preemptive news, the United States reportedly pressured Argentina to abandon the deal. 

China would have gained a foothold in America’s backyard had the deal been approved. Since then, it appears Washington has been attempting to sell the Argentine Air Force used Danish fighter jets. 

Meanwhile, India has also aggressively promoted its Tejas light combat aircraft to the South American nation. According to sources familiar with the subject, the top defense authorities from Argentina frequently brought their best pilots along when they visited HAL facilities in India to inspect the LCA Tejas. 

Buenos Aires purportedly asked for another round to test the homegrown fighter plane, but HAL postponed it until sometime in 2023. An Argentine mission led by the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chief of Argentina, General Juan Paleo, visited India’s DefExpo 2022. 

Previously, a high-level delegation from HAL also visited Argentina, demonstrating India’s effort and Argentina’s interest. 

Argentina’s Internal Challenges

Buenos Aires has been struggling to modernize its air force. Following the Falklands War, the United Kingdom put a complete embargo on exports of defense hardware to Argentina. 

eurasiantimes 

India to Test INS Vikrant, First Homegrown Aircraft Carrier

India is set to begin testing its first indigenously built aircraft carrier.
On Wednesday, India undocked its first homegrown aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, after all structural construction of the ship was completed. Major equipment have gone in. Cabling, piping, electrical works, heat and ventilation works will take place now. Delivery of systems and components for the aviation complex is expected anytime now.
The INS Vikrant makes India only the fifth country to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier after France, the United Kingdom, Russia and the United States.
The INS Vikrant will be 40,000-tons, with a length of 260 meters and a width of 60 meters. It has two take-off runways and a landing strip with three arrester wires, capable of operating STOBAR aircraft including the indigenous LCA, as well as a range of helicopters.
nationalinterest

India Ends MMRCA Deal and Will Only Buy 36 Rafales To France

India's defence minister has said Delhi will not buy more than the 36 Dassault Rafales to which it committed in April.
The announcement confirms the end of the MMRCA tender and the government's commitment to the Tejas LCA programme
India will neither licence-build additional Dassault Rafale fighters nor acquire more than the 36 it recently agreed to buy in flyaway condition.
The money India had saved by acquiring 90 fewer Rafales would be diverted to buying 200-odd indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
The LCA will replace 10 to 12 MiG-21 and MiG-27 squadrons to be retired from 2022.
India had been in negotiations with Dassault since 2012 to acquire 126 Rafales.
Of these, 18 were to have been bought off the shelf and 108 licence-built by Hindustan Aeronautics.
janes

Indian Air Force finally gets Tejas,after a wait of 32 years

Thirty-two years after the project was sanctioned, the first indigenously -built Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was on Saturday handed over by indian Defence Minister to the Indian Air Force.
The handover signals the start of a process of induction of the fighters being built at India.
The aircraft that has been handed over has got Initial Operational Clearance-II, which signifies that Tejas is airworthy in different conditions.
The Final Operational Clearance (FOC) is expected by the year-end.
Twenty aircraft will be built by 2017-2018, to make the first squadron of the aircraft. The LCA programme was initiated in 1983 to replace the ageing MiG-21s in IAF's combat fleet but has missed several deadlines due to various reasons.
indiatoday

First Naval LCA-Tejas Takes off from Ski-jump

The prototype of India's 4+ generation indigenous Light Combat Aircraft for the Navy taking off from the Shore-Based Test Facility ski-jump at INS Hansa naval air base in Goa on Dec. 20, 2014.
timesofindia

Final version of Tejas PV6, 2-seater trainer takes to sky in maiden flight

The final version of the two-seater trainer version of Tejas (PV-6) made its maiden flight, in a milestone for India's overall indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Programme.
This is the 16th Tejas variant to have flown as part of the project that has been in the pipeline for over two decades.
The PV6 has absorbed all the major design modifications undertaken during the last 2,500-plus flights in the programme.
This is the final prototype and will lead to final production of the trainer aircraft.
The aircraft has a new communication system, radar, EW sensors and new navigation systems for automatic landing.
economictimes

First series production Tejas aircraft completes maiden flight

HAL has successfully conducted the maiden test flight of the first series production standard Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA).
Tthe aircraft took off without any telemetry support and landed safely in less than 30 minutes.
The flight test takes the indigenously built aircraft closer to final clearance and induction into the Indian Air Force (IAF).
HAL chairman said: "The aircraft is now ready for IAF operations.
airforce-technology

Indian Air Force LCA squadron awaits first aircraft after fresh delay

More than seven months after it was cleared for being flown by IAF pilots, the entry of the first LCA Tejas in its newly-raised squadron in Bangalore is still awaited as the project has been delayed yet again.
IAF has raised its 45 Squadron at Bangalore for allowing its pilots to fly the aircraft and was supposed to induct the first Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) in March this year.
economictimes

Indian Navy Light Combat Aircraft to soon begin test flights

The LCA-Navy had already done more than 25 test flights from a runway. As these were successful and met the designated parameters, the aircraft will now be deployed at a naval base in Goa to commence ramp flights.
Goa, on the Arabian seafront, has a major naval air station, INS Hansa, where the MiG-29Ks for Indian aircraft carriers are also located.
ibnlive

Naval variant of LCA Tejas to undergo tests in Goa soon

The naval variant of LCA Tejas will soon undergo carrier compatibility tests at the newly commissioned shore-based test facility at the Indian naval base INS Hansa in Goa.
The shore-based test facility is primarily a ramp - similar to the ones on aircraft carriers - which facilitates ski-jump take-off and arrested landing of a naval aircraft. The aircraft will go to the test facility in a month's time.
Apart from enabling carrier compatibility, the new facility will aid certification of the LCA naval variant, for induction of the LCAin the Indian Navy.
The LCA (Navy) is India's first indigenous effort to build a carrier-borne naval fighter aircraft. It is designed to operate from future indigenous aircraft carriers that the Indian Navy plans to acquire.
LCA programme, which was launched in 1980 as part of the plan to replace the Indian Air Force's fleet of MIG-21 aircraft.
In December 2013, the IAF gave its operational clearance to the LCA Air Force variant and also cleared the same for full-scale production. It's expected the aircraft to be rolled out for induction into the Air Force later this year.
The IAF has placed an initial order of 40 LCAs which are to be delivered over the next four to five years. There are commitment for another 80 to 90 LCAs in future. The Air Force and Navy collectively require 200 LCAs.
The LCA had also evinced keen interest from foreign countries, but the priority for now is to enhance the production capacity and to continue working on the LCA Mk-II variant, which is expected to go operational in four to five years.
Apart from enabling carrier compatibility, the new shore-based test facility will aid certification of the LCA naval variant, which is critical to the LCA's future induction in the Indian Navy.
timesofindia

Indian Air Force will buy 14 Tejas squadrons

On December 20, when the Tejas was cleared for operational service in the Indian Air Force, Defence Minister declared 200 Tejas fighters would eventually enter combat service. Today, that figure quietly swelled to well above 300, with the government indicating the IAF would have at least 14 Tejas squadrons.
Each IAF combat squadron has 21 fighter aircraft; 14 squadrons add to 294 Tejas fighters. The 21 comprise 16 frontline, single-seat fighters, two twin-seat trainers and three reserve aircraft to make up losses in a war.
The MiG-21 and MiG-27 aircrafts of the IAF have already been upgraded and currently equip 14 combat squadrons. These aircraft, however, are planned for being phased out over the next few years and will be replaced by the LCA.
The IAF has committed to inducting only six Tejas squadrons — two squadrons of the current Tejas Mark I, and four squadrons of the improved Tejas Mark II. In addition, the navy plans to buy 40-50 Tejas for its future aircraft carriers.
business-standard

HAL to build 8, then 12, Tejas fighters each year

On December 20, the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) was cleared to enter operational service with the Indian Air Force (IAF). Now Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) faces the daunting transition from handcrafting Tejas prototypes into factory-assembling the 200-fighter Tejas fleet that Defence Minister has envisioned.
HAL aims to build 12 Tejas fighters each year.
Work is already underway on the first IAF order of 20 Tejas Mark I fighters, with an order for 20 more in the pipeline once the aircraft gets "final operational clearance" next year. The first two fighters being "series produced" - they are numbered SP-1 and SP-2 - are visibly taking shape.
By end-March 2014, SP-1 will fly, and SP-2 will fly a few months later. By the end of next year four Tejas will be in production. In 2015-16, will be built six fighters, and in 2016-17, nine will be built, until an annual capacity of 12 Tejas fighters.
business-standard

India’s Home-Grown Supersonic Fighter Jet

India’s air force is set to receive the country’s first locally-designed and developed supersonic fighter jet, the Tejas, in a significant milestone for its aerospace industry as it tries to phase out the aging and accident-prone MiG-21 jet fleet.
State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. plans initially to produce eight of the single-engine multi-role fighter jets a year from 2014, and to double production rate at a later stage.
Conceived in 1983 as the Light Combat Aircraft program, the project to develop the Tejas was delayed for several years because of difficulties related to developing the jet from scratch, which resulted in an escalation in the cost. The aircraft has been designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency among other government agencies with Hindustan Aeronautics as the principal partner. It has a digital fly-by-wire flight control system and composites were used extensively to develop its airframe to provide strength and offer lower radar visibility.
The aircraft is powered by a General Electric Co. engine– received the first so-called initial operational clearance from the Indian government in Jan. 2011. The second initial operational clearance –which means the fighter is ready to operate in all conditions–was awarded on Friday, paving the way for its series production by Hindustan Aeronautics and induction into the fleet of the air force, according to the company. The Tejas will not be combat-ready until 2015 when it receives its final operational clearance
The Soviet-era MiG-21 has been the combat backbone of India’s air force for 50 years with nearly 1,000 planes in the fleet. However, a spate of accidents in which some of which killed several young air force pilots, and the armed forces push to upgrade its weaponry, led the government to initiate steps to retire the MiG-21.
The induction of advanced supersonic jets such as the Tejas forms part of a modernization drive of the Indian armed forces–including its army and navy, as neighbors China and Pakistan also upgrade their military capabilities. India’s military comprises mainly aging Soviet-era equipment, including helicopters and infantry combat vehicles.
One of India’s key defense projects is the potential acquisition of 126 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault Aviation S.A. of France. Commercial talks are continuing with Dassault.
India is also jointly developing a fifth-generation fighter jet with Russia, and is also upgrading its fleet of other fighter jets including the Mirage-2000 and MiG-29.
A total of 254 MiG-21 planes are currently in service with India’s air force. The air force plans to phase out the MiG-21 in a staged manner, and replace it with the Tejas.
wsj

Naval LCA set for carrier compatibility tests

The naval variant of India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is gearing up for carrier compatibility tests at the shore-based INS Hansa in Goa.
The first prototype completed its maiden flight on April 27, 2012.
LCA-Navy is the second Ski Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR ) carrier-borne aircraft in the world, after the Russian deck-based aircraft. However, it'll be the only carrier-borne fighter aircraft in the light category.
timesofindia

Induction of LCA in Indian Air Force Tejas postponed to November

The much-awaited induction of the India's indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft in the Indian Air Force got further delayed with the Defence Ministry giving the LCA team a new deadline of November, 2013, to obtain the initial operational clearance-2, which will be the last but one hurdle before the LCA gets inducted into the air force.
The earlier deadline for the IOC-2 was September, which has been extended by two months now. The schedule for the final operational clearance will be December, 2014, though the top brass in the IAF is sceptical about the FOC deadline.
deccanherald

Sanctions led to delay in LCA project

Facing flak for time slippages in Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas programme, DRDO chief V K Saraswat has attributed the delay to "setbacks" caused by international sanctions and inadequate development of aerospace industry in the country.
brahmand.com

India's Tejas set for final clearance in 2014

India defence minister believes the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) Tejas Mk I fighter can achieve final operational clearance (FOC) in the Indian air force by the end of 2014.
flightglobal

Tejas LSP-8 Takes Off

The last aircraft in the Limited Series Production program of LCA-Tejas (LSP-08) took off on its maiden flight here today from HAL airport. The performance of the aircraft was flawless. With this, the Initial Operation Clearance (IOC) for the aircraft can be expected soon

Shiv Aroor-livefist

LCA Tejas Sports Python & Derby

India's LCA Tejas twin-seat trainer mock-up on display at Aero India 2013 for the first time shows it alongside a Rafael Python-5 IR short-range air-to-air missile and a Rafael Derby BVRAAM. The latter is a stopgap in the event that the Astra isn't delivered on time, and also for testing requirements. Also on the mockup are the R-73 and the Astra.

Shiv Aroor-livefist