India’s Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Delayed Until 2015

India’s dreams of flying an indigenously built light combat aircraft will have a wait a while longer as the Tejas fighter jet is not expected to “be ready to go to war” until 2015. A recent assessment found the lightweight aircraft, which has flown over 2,000 flights, to be ready in three years and is expected to be capable of firing guns, rockets and BVR (beyond visual range) missiles as well as air-to-air refueling. The $4.51 billion Tejas project began in 1983 to replace the aging Russian MiG-21s will miss its 2012 deadline as the review refused to issued the final operations clearance (FOC) before it is fully combat-ready. At present Tejas only has initial operational clearance-I (IOC-I) to certify its airworthiness. It was recently revealed that the first 20 aircraft will be powered by GE-404 engines while the other six squadrons fly on a more powerful GE-F-414 engine. The Indian Air Force will see a fall of an additional 31 aircraft in its fighter squadron in the next four years.