India To Replace MiG Fleet With 106 Upgraded Tejas Jets

The Indian Ministry of Defense has decided to replace the aging MiG fighter fleet of the Air Force with 106 upgraded indigenous Tejas jets.

The new upgraded Tejas Mark 1-A would be a 1000 kg lighter than existing version which is 6500 kg along with 43 other improvements, Tribune news daily reported Monday.

A decision has been taken to produce 106 “Tejas Mark 1-A” jets and the same has been conveyed to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), besides the manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a public sector undertaking owned by MoD, the news daily reported citing unnamed sources.

The MoD has set a 2018 deadline for the first aircraft to be ready and a complete production by 2022-2023.

New specifications were agreed in September and IAF accepted 43 modifications with no change in the existing design.

The major improvements include, an AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar, which the HAL will co-develop with Israel firm Elta; air-to-air refuelling facility; externally fitted self-protection jammer to prevent incoming enemy missiles from homing in using radar signature; and a new layout, involving 27 modifications, of internal systems to iron out maintenance issues, the news daily reported.

Mark-1A will use the same engine — General Electric’s 404. “The power of the engine is more than enough,” said a senior functionary. Fitting the newer and more powerful GE-414 engine would entail fresh design and airframe studies.

The HAL has been asked to produce 16 jets annually and INR 1,252-crore (US $184 million) modernisation plan has been okayed to ramp up capacities from the present six-seven planes annually.

The upgraded jets will fill the void created by MiG-21s and MiG-27s that will be phased out by 2022.

There are 260 Soviet-era single-engine MiG-21 and MiG-27 jets in the IAF fleet. The air force needs 400 jets over the next 10 years.