Vice chiefs of IAF, Navy, Army take to the skies with indigenous Tejas fighters to highlight synergy – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The IAFArmy and Navy sub-leaders took to the air in native Tejas warriors on Monday, in an “unprecedented collective effort” aimed at emphasizing self-reliance in defense production and the increasing integration within the armed forces in the run-up to the imminent establishment of three armed forces commands in the country.
Air Marshal AP Singh flew the ‘leading single-seater Tejas fighter’, while Lieutenant General NS Raja Subramani and Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan flew the two-seater variant, during the ongoing multinational ‘Tarang Shakti’ exercise in Jodhpur.
“It was a milestone. Their joint participation in the exercise demonstrates the growing focus on inter-domain cooperation, with land, sea and air forces working together to meet modern challenges,” said an officer.
India is showcasing its single-engine Tejas at the largest-ever air combat exercise, Tarang Shakti, involving 67 fighter and military aircraft from 10 countries and observers from 18 more. The aim is to strengthen India’s military interoperability and strategic partnerships across the globe.
Tejas is crucial for the IAF to replenish its dwindling numbers as it struggles with just 30 fighter squadrons while 42 are authorised to take on China and Pakistan. However, the IAF has so far inducted only 35-36 of the initial 40 Tejas Mark-1 jets ordered for Rs 8,802 crore due to delays by defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).
There is also a major delay in the delivery schedule of the next 83 Tejas Mark-1A jets to the IAF, which were contracted to HAL in February 2021 under the Rs 46,898 crore contract. A major reason for this is the delay in the delivery of GE-F404 turbofan jet engines, which currently power the jets, to HAL by the US-based General Electric.
All this comes at a time when another Rs 67,000-crore contract for 97 more Tejas Mark-1A fighters is also being finalised. The Rajnath Singh-led Defence Acquisitions Council gave the preliminary approval or acceptance of necessity (AoN) for the procurement of these 97 fighter jets in November last year.
India and the US are also currently in techno-commercial negotiations for co-production of GE-F414 jet engines by General Electric and HAL for the Tejas Mark-II fighter aircraft in India, involving a transfer of 80% of the technology worth around USD 1 billion.