Ex-IAF vice-chief Kapoor says India’s 4.5-gen Tejas may not have relevance in 2030s, country must partner with global consortiums like FCAS or GCAP for 6th-gen programme | India News
NEW DELHI: Less than two months after retirement as the IAF’s vice chief, Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor (Retd) has slammed the delay in the delivery of Tejas (LCA) fighter jet by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to the air force, saying, “why must it be that a machine that was promised to us so many years back with a certain set of capabilities continues to be denied to us on one pretext or the other”.In an interview to NDTV, the IAF veteran said, “Why must we be hamstrung because someone somewhere has not been able to keep their promises?”The delivery of the indigenous LCA Tejas Mk1A jets by HAL to the IAF has faced multi-year delays, primarily caused by late supplies of F404-IN20 engines by American GE company, complex mission software validation, and stringent operational requirements set by the IAF.When asked if advanced Tejas Mk-2 may be operationally relevant when it starts entering service in big numbers in mid 2030s at a time when China is already raising its fleet of its 5th-generation fighter jet, the former vice-chief said, “No, operationally, definitely no.”With China on its way to deploying 500 5th-generation J-20 fighters by 2030, India is still struggling to get the delivery of the first squadron by 4.5-generation Tejas Mk1A. Though the IAF had placed orders for a total of 180 Tejas Mk1A fighter jets long ago, HAL hopes to deliver the first 18-25 Tejas Mk1A only by March 2027.Air Marshal Kapoor (Retd) did not totally rule out the role of Tejas Mk2 in future when he said, “You can have a certain number of those 5th generation and 6th generation fighters, but given the size of the country, you won’t be able to deploy them everywhere. So those gaps which continue to remain to be filled will have to be filled by this class of aircraft.” “I want Tejas Mk-2 to come, I want India’s 5th-gen AMCA to come. But they must come at a much faster speed,” he said.When asked about Russia’s 5th-gen fighter jet Su-57, the former vice-chief said when the Russian fighter is compared to western jets like American F-35, western jets have an edge over the Su-57 as they have better avionics and stealth.Air Marshal Kapoor (Retd) suggested that India should partner with an European consortium working on state-of-the-art sixth generation platforms. “There are other things that are happening — why not join FCAS (Future Combat Air System is the European programme for 6th generation jet under development by French Dassault Aviation, Airbus and Indra Sistemas) Why not GCAP (Global Combat Air Programme is a multinational initiative led by Italy, Japan, and UK to jointly develop a sixth-generation jet).
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”“’You are probably going with a consortium which has got a good record of delivery, of development. Why go through this Gen 4, Gen 4.5 steps when you know the next best thing is already being thought of and why not just join up there?,” the IAF veteran said.
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