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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 27

Ending a 32-year wait for an indigenous fighter jet, the first squadron of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, is scheduled to be inducted into the Air Force on July 1.This will be the first version of the jets. Two successive improved versions, having better radars, missiles and greater war-fighting abilities, are slated to be inducted by 2019. A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report in May 2015 said Rs 10,397.11 crore had been spent on the development of the plane that was originally scheduled to be inducted around 15 years ago.The final operation clearance (FOC) of the jet is expected by December this year. The plane, powered by US engines GE 404, will carry air-to-air missiles, precision guided ammunition, but will not carry a beyond visual range (BVR) missile for at least one year.A BVR missile (a key weapon on modern-day fighter jets) and the mid-air refuelling facility are still being tested and will be incorporated later, IAF sources said today. Having a BVR was one of the requirements for the FOC, but it would be added soon after tests were over.The first squadron will be raised at Bangalore with two planes, six more will be added by December this year while another six will come by the end of 2017. IAF officials explained the raising of the squadron with only two planes saying “we have to start with some number”. Technically, only a squadron can “own” planes and no squadron can be raised with a full complement (of around 18 planes) or else we will have to wait till all 18 planes are produced.It will be squadron number 45 called the “flying daggers” which earlier flew the MiG-21 jets. For the next 18 months, it will be based at Bangalore to sort out initial issues with plane-maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) following which it will be stationed at Sulur, near Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu.“Very soon a small unit of Tejas will be based in an operational area to test its abilities,” IAF officials said, adding that the plane had undertaken 3,000 sorties without an accident. It is a very capable flying machine and any comparison with contemporary jets can be made only after the IAF flies it over the next few months.The first batch of 20 Tejas jets will be produced by 2018. It will be followed by 20 jets of an improved version. The second improvement will have 80 jets with production to start in 2019. This will be equipped with better radars (AESA), greater ranger of BVR missiles and advanced short-range missiles.Off the 43 improvements suggested to HAL, all those related to flight safety have already been sorted out, an IAF official said.

To see two improved versions

The first squadron will be raised at Bangalore with two planes, six more will be added by December this year while another six will come by the end of 2017
The squadron number 45, called “flying daggers”, will be based at Bangalore for the next 18 months to sort out initial issues with plane-maker HAL following which it will be stationed at Sulur in Tamil Nadu
The first batch of 20 Tejas jets will be produced by 2018, while the second improvement will have 80 jets with production to start in 2019