Indian Air Force to buy six advanced aircraft along with light Tejas fighter jets, Cabinet Committee approves
Tejas: The government has approved the proposed purchase of 97 Tejas light combat aircraft and six advanced airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft for the Indian Air Force at a cost of approximately Rs 85,000 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Security Affairs (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the green signal to both the procurement projects.
The government has approved the proposed purchase of 97 light combat aircraft Tejas fighter jets and six advanced airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft for the Indian Air Force at a cost of about Rs 85 thousand crore.
The Cabinet Committee on Security Affairs (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given the green signal to both the procurement projects. It is reported that Tejas jets will be purchased at a cost of approximately Rs 67,000 crore, while approximately Rs 18,000 crore will be spent on the AEW&C project.
The second-hand Airbus-321 aircraft, earlier bought by the Defence Ministry from Air India, will be used for the AEW&C project, which aims to improve the surveillance and signal intelligence systems of the Indian Air Force.
The purchase of 97 light combat aircraft Tejas (Mk-1A) comes nearly four years after the Defence Ministry inked another deal involving the indigenously built jet.
In February 2021, the Defence Ministry had signed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with HAL for the purchase of 83 Tejas Mk-1A jets for the Indian Air Force. The single-engine Mk-1A will replace the MiG-21 fighter jets of the Indian Air Force.
