With Two Planes, India To Raise Its First Tejas Squadron In July

New Delhi: India will get its Tejas fighter squadron -- indigenously built  Combat Aircraft -- on July 1, with two planes. The squadron will be based in in Tamil Nadu's Sulur.

Another two fighters are expected in the next financial year, 2016-17, a senior Air Force commander told NDTV. The total strength of the squadron - normally they have 14 to 16 aircraft -- and its name will be decided later.

The first two Tejas fighters, however, won't be used for operations now. They will undergo test flights to resolve certain flaws. The clearance for operations is expected in December.

The Tejas still has 19 unresolved issues - including nose wheel vibrations, high noise level in the cockpit -- which need to be sorted out. "The HAL (the manufacturer, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) and IAF are working closely to sort out these issues, we expect them to go through it quickly," the commander said.

For now, the Air Force will start the training and induction of pilots.  Also, test pilots manning the squadron will work closely with HAL to "deal with the niggling issues," he added.

 

Despite its flaws, the Air Force had agreed to induct the aircraft to keep the Tejas programme alive and bolster its flagging squadron numbers. The Air Force is down to 33 fighter squadrons against the required 42. Each squadron has 14 to 16 jets. Over the next few years, the IAF will lose another 14 squadrons comprising the aging Russian-made MiG-21 and MiG 27s.

To make up the numbers the Air Force has ordered 80 more Tejas fighters, and their total number will be 120 -- the delivery will depend on HAL's production capacity.

The first batch 20 fighters produced by HAL will not have the capacity to refuel on air - a critical quality during operations.

"That, a better radar , and the ability to fire missiles beyond the visual range will be incorporated in the second batch of 20 fighters," the officer said. India is hoping to use Israeli radars.

The Defence ministry and HAL are in the process of increasing the production capacity of Tejas fighters. The plan is to produce at least 8 aircraft annually and then increase it to 16 fighters, that is one squadron, a year.