Tejas LCA
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India’s fighter strength has been declining in recent years, as the MiG-21s that form the largest component of its fleet are lost in crashes, or retired due to age and wear. Some MiG-21s are being modernized to MiG-21bis ‘Bison’ configuration, just as other current fighter types are all undergoing modernization programs in order to maintain the fighter force until replacements can arrive. On which note, an ongoing tender will likely see Russian, French, American, Swedish and European manufacturers dueling for a multi-billion dollar, 126+ plane light-medium fighter sale.

This still leaves India without a low-end solution to the twin problems besetting its overall fleet: numbers, and age. The MiG-21bis program adds years of life to those airframes, but that extended lifespan is still quite finite; by 2020, it is very unlikely that any MiG-21s will remain in service. As for the MMRCA program, it may replace some of India’s mid-range fighters – but that still leaves replacement of its MiG-21 fleet as India’s biggest numbers challenge. In this environment, the status of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project matters a great deal to the Indian Air Force’s future prospects – and their and confidence in its success matters as they contemplate their immediate procurement buys. The choices made in the LCA’s design will also affect the lightweight fighter’s export potential, which will in turn feed back again into the overall program’s costs and viability for India over its lifetime.

The latest additions to this article include more extensive information regarding the fighter and its performance, an update re: flight testing, and an reported radar offer from EADS. As the article explains, however, the most critical firing tests are yet to come…

• LCA Tejas: India’s Lightweight Fighter, or Just a Lightweight? [updated]
• The Kaveri Engine: Keystone, or Killer?
• Updates and Events [updated]
• Appendix A: DID Analysis & Op/Ed
• Appendix B: Additional Readings & Sources

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