A day following the order for 83 Light Combat Aircraft `Tejas’ for the Indian Air Force (IAF) was handed more than to the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL, stage is having set for the export of these indigenous fighter jets. On day two of the 13th edition of Aero-India 2021, R Madhavan, chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), stated that “Countries from the Middle East and Southeast Asia have expressed their interest in the indigenous LCA `Tejas’ Mk 1A fighter at a vanilla price of just Rs 309 crore per aircraft.”
In an interaction with the media persons on the sideline, the HAL CMD stated that as nations from Southeast Asia and West Asia East have evinced interest, the export version will be a bit diverse from what IAF is going to get.”
According to the CMD, “The is cost of Rs 309 crore is the cheapest and the aircraft will be exported at this price, though the cost will be a bit extra because bases and the services we will be providing overseas.”
What’s inside the LCA Mark 1A
The aircraft comes with the very same airframe and engine as the Mark 1. The Mark IA is equipped with AESA radar which is from Israel, Electronic Warfare suite, there is a substantially improved pilot machine interface.
Also, a state of the art ‘fly by wire’ method which according to a former aviator would be the envy of the aviation planet.
The weapons on board are a mixture of indigenous as effectively as imported.
For instance, the radar which has been purchased off the shelf from Israel is also behind some components for the EW suite and has been integrated to execute optimally and indigenously.
Also, most upgrades for Mk 1A have been created in home which also incorporates the FBW — this offers the pilot the capability of handling by way of the ALSR (Advanced Auto Low-Speed Recovery).
It has capability to fire Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missiles, bombs and precision-guided munitions.
More about the 83 fighters for IAF
Breaking down the complete package for 83 fighters for IAF, the CMD explained: “The contract is for around Rs 48,000 crore. However, it will come down to just around Rs 36,000 if the tax component and escalation in foreign exchange is taken away.”
“The way the calculation is being done is wrong. Take out the taxes and duty, and increase in foreign exchange brings the total cost to just Rs 25,150 crore,” the CMD explained.
Breaking it down additional the CMD stated, “If you calculate the taxes and customs duty it works out to around Rs 9,200 crore, and then you add another Rs 11,000 crore which is for the ground equipment which will take the chunk, spares, training aides and manuals, and other expenses.”
How substantially will one LCA `Tejas’ expense?
According to him, expense per aircraft is Rs 309 crore. The expense of the trainer is about Rs 280 crore. The nations which have reached out have identified this expense to be the least expensive for the 4 and a half generation aircraft.”
TheSpuzz Online has reported earlier that nations such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka are amongst these who have evinced interests in these fighters and the HAL is also preparing to set logistics facilities to attract purchasers from the area.
Export targets
The government has set a defence export target of $5 billion in the next 5 years. And Defence PSUs such as the HAL are working towards reaching this target.