Image Source : INDIA TV OPINION | How in a single stroke Modi rubbished Rahul’s cost of ‘winding up’ HAL
The Cabinet Committee on Security on Wednesday accepted the acquisition of 83 indigenously manufactured fourth-generation Tejas jet fighters from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for the Indian Air Force. This is the largest ever indigenous navy deal value Rs 46,898 crore. Delivery of the single-engine Tejas Mark 1-A fighter jets will start in three years.
This will give an enormous increase to the indigenous navy manufacturing sector with HAL working with almost 500 different firms to satisfy the order. It will even increase the variety of fighter squadrons within the Indian Air Force. The deal additionally consists of supply of 10 Tejas coach plane to the IAF.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, saying this acquisition, mentioned “this deal will be a game changer for self-reliance in Indian defence manufacturing. It would act as a catalyst for transforming the domestic aerospace ecosystem. The LCA-Tejas is going to be the backbone of the IAF fighter fleet in the years to come.”
The new Tejas Mark 1-A jet fighters can have 43 enhancements over the 40 Tejas Mark-1 fighter jets ordered by the Indian Air Force earlier. The essential main additions are AESA (energetic electronically scanned array) radars to interchange current mechanically-steered radars, air-to-air refuelling facility, long-range BVR (Beyond Visual Range) missiles with a variety as much as 80 kilometres and superior digital warfare to jam enemy radars and missiles. It can fly as much as a most velocity of 1,000 kmph and carry greater than 5,000 kg of bombs and missiles. It is the smallest and lightest among the many fourth-generation fighter jets.
In my prime time present ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ on Wednesday evening, we confirmed a report from our Defence Editor Manish Prasad who visited the HAL unit in Bengaluru the place the Tejas fighter jets are being manufactured. The new Mark 1-A model shall be outfitted with digital warfare suite, and the chief take a look at pilot of HAL advised our reporter that it is among the most interesting fighter jets within the fourth technology collection. Coming quickly is the Mark 2 model which shall be outfitted with a extra highly effective engine, can carry extra bombs and shall be outfitted with the newest avionics like radar and sensor. The new model of the jet will weigh 17 tonnes, whereas the current model weighs solely 12 tonnes, P. Jayadeva, basic supervisor of Tejas challenge advised our Defence Editor.
Presently, the Indian Air Force has solely 30 fighter squadrons, every squadron having 16 to 18 jets, however the necessities are for 42 squadrons which might act as a deterrent to the dual threats on our borders. With the brand new acquisition, the variety of Tejas fighter jets within the IAF will improve to 123. At current, the IAF has 20 Tejas fighters and 20 extra are in numerous levels of manufacturing.
The acquisition of Tejas fighter jet has come after a 37-year-long torturous wait. The Centre had accepted the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) challenge manner again in August, 1983 with an preliminary funding of Rs 560 crore. It was to interchange the ageing MiG-21 jets. The first prototype of Tejas was flown after 18 years in January 2001, and 12 years later, in December 2013, the single-engine Tejas jet obtained the Initial Operational Clearance.
The Indian Air Force obtained the primary Tejas jet in January 2015, 32 years after the challenge was launched. The first Tejas squadron was raised a 12 months later with solely two jets. Tejas obtained the ultimate operational clearance in February 2019, and the second Tejas squadron was raised by the IAF in May final 12 months. After the induction of 83 Tejas jets within the IAF, the HAL is about to develop the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet referred to as the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). The Indian Air Force desires at the very least 126 such stealth fighter jets for its arsenal.
Every Indian ought to maintain his head excessive in pleasure after the HAL achieves its purpose of producing stealth fighter jets. I’m now reminded of the vicious allegations made by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi months earlier than the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, by which he mentioned that Narendra Modi desires to wind up the HAL to assist overseas defence firms. Rahul had then mentioned that 1000’s of HAL staff can be rendered unemployed if the 36 Rafale jets are acquired from France. I nonetheless keep in mind how the then Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rebutted each cost made by Rahul Gandhi. She had then promised that HAL can be given the whole Tejas challenge to finish. Her phrases have now come true right now. The approval given by the CCS on Wednesday has proved how Rahul Gandhi made baseless fees inside Parliament.
I feel Rahul Gandhi ought to typically introspect in regards to the allegations that he ranges towards the Modi authorities. He ought to attempt to perceive the connotations of Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India), an India which is able to defending its borders with weapons manufactured by itself soil, a powerful and succesful India. Not solely Tejas, there are various different indigenous weapons within the individuals. He ought to go and watch this 12 months’s Republic Day parade by which the Indian Army will showcase Uzi-type ASMI machine pistols, common bulletproof jackets, Switch drone vertical microcopters, and different indigenous weapons all developed by Indian military officers with the ‘Made in India’ label. Modi’s imaginative and prescient of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ has made a spectacular starting.
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