The Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to get the delivery of its first Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in July this year, sources told India Today on Thursday.
The integration trials of the first Tejas Mk-1A are currently being done after its first flight, which was done in March this year.
The entire process is expected to be completed by July and the first delivery would be done at that time, top defence officials informed India Today.
The first aircraft to be delivered in July would be part of the 83 aircraft ordered by the Indian Air Force under a Rs 48,000 crore contract.
The Indian Air Force is also planning to place orders for 97 additional such fighters. The Defence Ministry has already issued a tender to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the acquisition in April.
The HAL has three months to respond to the Defence Ministry from the day of the placement of the tender.
The tender to buy 97 fighters aims to strengthen the Indian Air Force (IAF), which is currently dealing with a shortage of fighter squadrons, a situation that is likely to deepen further after the phaseout of the MiG series fighter jets from the service.
The Tejas Mark-1A is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured modern 4-plus generation fighter aircraft with more than 65 per cent indigenous components.
With an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile, modern Electronic Warfare Suite (EWS) and Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) capabilities, Tejas MK 1 A is expected to meet the operational requirements of the IAF both in the eastern and western sectors.