Defence Ministry clears procurement of 97 Tejas LCA for IAF, over 150 Prachand helicopters

At least 97 Light Combat Aircraft Mark 1A fighter jets for the Indian Air Force and 156 LCH Prachand choppers have been approved by the Defence Ministry on Thursday. DAC meeting which was held today has cleared the upgrade plan of 84 Su-30MKI fighters.

New Delhi: In major decisions, the Defence Ministry on Thursday cleared the proposal for acquiring 97 Light Combat Aircraft Mark 1A fighter jets for the Indian Air Force at a cost of around Rs 65,000 crore. A proposal for buying 156 LCH Prachand choppers has also been approved by the Defence Acquisition Council.

The upgrade plan of 84 Su-30MKI fighters has also been cleared at meeting of DAC held today. These proposals are worth Rs 1.6 lakh crore and are indigenous projects, defence officials said.

The first version of the Tejas LCA aircraft was inducted into the IAF in 2016. Currently, two squadrons of IAF are fully operational with LCA Tejas. Tejas will be the largest fleet of fighter aircraft to be operated by the Indian Air Force in the coming years.

An order worth Rs 36,468 crore for delivery of 83 LCA Mk 1A aircraft has been placed with HAL and delivery is scheduled to begin by February 2024, a recent Ministry of Defence statement said.

Last week, PM Modi carried out a sortie in Tejas from the Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment, Bengaluru. During the 30-minute sortie, the capabilities of the fighter aircraft Tejas were demonstrated to the PM.