Govt approves procurement of 97 Tejas jets for IAF

New Delhi: The government has approved the proposed procurement 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 around Rs 85,000 crore, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The two procurement projects were learnt to have been given the green light by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they said.

The Tejas jets will be procured at a cost of around Rs 67,000 crore while the AEW&C project will cost the exchequer around Rs 18,000 crore, it is learnt.

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Second-hand Airbus-321 planes bought earlier from Air India by the defence ministry will be used for the AEW&C project that is aimed at enhancing the IAF’s surveillance and signal intelligence systems.

The procurement of the 97 LCA Tejas (MK-1A) comes nearly four years after the defence ministry sealed another deal involving the indigenously-built jet.

In February 2021, the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with HAL for the procurement of 83 Tejas MK-1A jets for the IAF.

The single-engine MK-1A will be a replacement for the IAF’s MiG-21 fighters.

The IAF is looking at inducting the warplanes as the number of its fighter squadrons have gone down to 31 from the officially sanctioned strength of 42.

Tejas is a single-engine multi-role fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments.

It has been designed to undertake the air defence, maritime reconnaissance and strike roles.

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