Indian Air Force to acquire Rs9,767 bn indigenous fighters

NEW DELHI: In a major boost for the indigenous defence manufacturing capability, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is expected to place orders worth around Rs45,000 crore (PKR9,767 billion) with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to acquire 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas fighters.

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The IAF had issued a tender for 83 LCAs about two years ago and the project was stuck over the pricing issue as the government and the Air Force felt that the price offered by the HAL was slightly higher.

"The cost committee of the Defence Ministry has determined the cost of the 83 LCA Mark 1A aircraft around Rs45,000 crore and the Indian Air Force is now expected to place orders for these planes in the next few weeks," senior defence sources told ANI.

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Sources said it would be the first-of-its-kind order for any Indian firm and would give major boost for the indigenous defence industry. More than 65 per cent funds of the Rs45,000 crore order would remain within the country and help in creating jobs in both private and public sectors. The first LCA Mark 1A aircraft is likely to be produced by 2023. LCA Mark 1A is the advanced version of Tejas aircraft.

As per the requirements presented by the IAF, the first LCA Mark 1A plane would be supplied in 36 months from the signing of the contract. The new LCA Mark 1A plane will have advanced avionics and radars than the initial 40 LCAs being supplied to the Air Force. The HAL has so far supplied 16 LCAs to the service which has based them at Sulur in Tamil Nadu under 45 Squadron.

Meanwhile politicians’ tweets can sometimes reveal new intelligence about their own country’s military capabilities and programmes. On August 28 the official Twitter account of the Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu, tweeted photos of his visit to the country’s Naval Science & Technological Laboratory. Among the missiles and unmanned vehicles is a sub-scale model of a submarine. And it appears to be not just any submarine – the model may offer the first visual clues to India’s next-generation ballistic missile submarine, the S-5 Class.

The apparent leak comes just days after Defense Minster Rajnath Singh questioned how long India would retain its long-standing ‘no-first-use’ nuclear weapons doctrine. This new submarine will likely represent a major leap in the lethality and survivability of India’s nuclear arsenal.

The Indian Navy is already part of the exclusive club which operate nuclear-powered submarines together with the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and China. India’s indigenous programme has been slow but is now showing signs of maturing. And its focus has been to go straight to ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), leaving regular general-purpose submarines until later. There have been reports that up to six nuclear-powered attack submarines may be built to protect the fleet of missile submarines.

The new S-5 submarines will join the existing Arihant Class which are India’s first indigenous nuclear-powered submarines. INS Arihant undertook its first deterrence patrol late last year. The S-5 may enter service in the late 2020s after 4 Arihant Class boats have been constructed.

Significantly the new design will be a full-sized missile submarine with 12 or more launch tubes for the intercontinental-range ballistic missiles. For comparison the first generation Arihant Class are the smallest modern nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and can only carry 4 standard-size missiles. That is still more than the new North Korean conventionally powered ballistic missile submarine revealed in July, which can only carry 3 missiles. The model shows a taller and wider raised ‘turtle back’ deck casing over the missile tubes supporting the assessment that it will carry more missiles than the current design. Twelve missiles is four fewer than the US Navy’s next-generation Columbia Class submarines, but the same number as Chinese SSBNs and also the Royal Navy’s next-generation Dreadnought Class.

The submarines will bolster India’s deterrence capabilities against Pakistan and China. The latter already has an extensive missile submarine programme with around 6 operational boats, and Pakistan is reported to be deploying its own at-sea deterrent using its indigenous Babur cruise missile as a basis. This is likely the fastest and least expensive way for Pakistan to field a workable system. The Pakistani investment is nowhere near that of the multi-billion-dollar Indian programme and the shorter range, comparative ease of interception and probably smaller payload of the cruise missiles do not make them directly comparable to India's new weapons.