HAL to offer Tejas trainer variant 'LIFT' to Egypt

Source : RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

LCA Tejas Mk1 Trainer (File Photo)

HAL team will be soon in Cairo, after the conclusion of the Dubai Air show 2021 to have talks with the Egyptian Air Force officials for the possible sale of LCA-Tejas aircraft to Cairo. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chief R Madhavan speaking to ” Business-standard” has said that ” Idea is to manufacture Tejas by setting up a factory for them over there ” Madhavan hints at talks could be over large orders that the Egyptian Air Force might be considering.

idrw.org has been told that the Egyptian Air Force plans to retire its Chinese-made 100 K-8E trainer aircraft for which it is looking for a replacement in larger numbers. Egypt already has evaluated the Leonardo M346 Master, the Korea Aerospace Industries/Lockheed Martin T-50 Golden Eagle, and the Irkut/Rosoboronexport Yak-130 along with Czech-built Aero L-39NG trainer which is an upgraded version of the Aero L-39 fleet that Egypt already operates.

HAL already has received orders for 18 Tejas Trainer aircraft from Indian Air Force and the first two Trainer aircraft are already under production. HAL has plans to develop a lead-in fighter training (LIFT) variant based on the Tejas Trainer airframe that will be stripped of high-end sensors and avionics but will include training-specific cockpit equipment including Wide Area Display (WAD) to be used as Advance Jet Trainer for new pilots before moving to Squadrons. Tejas LIFT can be programmed to mimic flight characters of any other platform like Rafale or Sukhoi-30MKI for the pilot to get a hang of the aircraft before he actually fly’s them in real and also be used in combat roles if desired.

LCA-LIFT Program was not demanded by IAF but was designed when HAL wanted to participate in the US Air Force’s T-X program for a new-generation trainer. IAF was mighty impressed by the presentation made by the HAL and features it could offer to develop LCA-LIFT, that it has now got all required approvals and permissions from IAF to explore the LCA-LIFT Program which could lead to IAF placing an order of 30+ jets.

Egyptian Air Force BTA Requirements

Egypt has a requirement to replace most of the Basic training aircraft that are now in use including a fleet of 54 Tucanos, acquired in the 1980s for which HAL might be interested in pitching its HTT-40 (Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40) for basic training requirements.

Egyptian Air Force fleet

Egypt operates a diversified fighter jet fleet from Russia, China, the United States, and European nations and recently placed orders for French-made Rafale fighters and Russian-made Su-35 fighters. Egyptian Air Force currently operates 220 F-16s, 24 Rafale fighter jets, 15 Mirage 2000, 46 MiG-29M fighter jets, also ordered 24 Su-35S Super Flanker jets .

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