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| Tejas Mk-2 CGI by Kuntal Biswas |
New Delhi: Fully backing the indigenous fighter aircraft programs, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Monday said the Indian Air Force has already given the commitment to buy six squadrons of the under development TEJAS MK-2 combat aircraft and would place more orders for these planes once their production begins.
“Indian Air Force has already given commitment for the induction of six squadrons of Light Combat Aircraft Mark 2 fighter jets. We will decide on additional numbers once the production of these aircraft starts,” Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari told ANI.
The IAF has already placed orders for four squadrons of the TEJAS MK-1A and has committed towards inducting at least seven squadrons of the fifth generation Indian fighter Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) which is also progressing very fast.
The TEJAS MK-2 fighter is intended to be the replacement for the Mirage 2000 and Jaguar fighters when they are due for phasing out after a decade.
Sharing details on the IAF plans for future inductions, Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari had stated that the force is looking at inducting aircraft only under the Make in India plan which includes the TEJAS MK-1A, TEJAS MK-2, AMCA along with the 114 multirole fighter aircraft.
The IAF has also decided that all its future surface-to-air ground weapon systems would be made in India and a large number of indigenous radars have already been deployed in operational areas.
