Indian Navy: 100 indigenous deck-based fighter aircraft will be produced for the Indian Navy. The Cabinet Committee on Security may soon take a proposal to design and develop it. Senior officials having knowledge of the matter gave this information on Tuesday (February 14) at the ongoing Air Show, Aero India in Bengaluru. It is expected to become a part of the Navy by 2031-32.
The first prototype of the twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF) could make its first flight by 2026 and be ready for production by 2031, said Girish S Deodhar, director general of the Aeronautical Development Agency. According to officials, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will produce 8 aircraft every year. Till it is ready, the Navy is considering importing a new deck-based fighter plane.
this would be the specialty
The Navy is to be equipped with 26 new deck-based fighters for the country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. At present, there was a competition between the Rafale M fighter and the American F/A-18, in which Rafale has defeated the American Super Hornet.
Deodhar said that TEDBF will feature both the Rafale M and the F/A-18 Super Hornet. Rafale is manufactured by Dassault Aviation, while the Super Hornet is manufactured by Boeing.
design phase
Deodhar told that India has gained expertise in developing Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which will be useful for the TEDBF project. It is currently in the preliminary design phase and should be up and running quickly.
Last week, the LCA took off and landed from INS Vikrant for the first time. Two LCA (Navy) prototypes are currently being operated from the aircraft carrier as part of the ongoing flight trials.
Vikrant becomes part of the Navy in 2022
INS Vikrant was commissioned into the Navy last September, a major step towards the country’s self-reliance in the defense sector. With this, the Indian Navy has joined the list of countries that have an indigenous aircraft carrier. The flight tests on INS Vikrant also include MiG-29K fighter jets of Russian origin.
The 45,000 tonne Vikrant has been built at the Cochin Shipyard at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore. Only the US, UK, Russia, France and China have the capability to build aircraft carriers of this size. It is named after INS Vikrant, an aircraft carrier operated by the Navy from 1961 to 1997.
Why is it important?
The Indian Navy currently uses the MiG-29K on its carriers, which have some operational issues. The problem of fuel consumption, excessive oil consumption has also come to the fore in its engine.
TEDBF is a twin-engine delta-wing fighter aircraft. As a multi-mission jet, it will establish India’s air superiority and perform theater defense as well as electronic warfare. TEDBF is expected to replace MiG-29Ks on INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant.
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