Tejas, the indigenous aircraft of India, has been ones gain dragged into the limelight after Indian navy refused to use it. Admiral Lanba openly said that Tejas, manufactured by HAL, does not meet the requirement of the India Navy. The naval variant of the aircraft now came under allegations. As per the sources, the next option for the Indian navy to fulfill the need of the aircrafts is to opt the way out toward foreign sources. The maiden flight of the naval version of Tejas took place in 2012. Currently Indian navy is using Mig 29 over its aircraft carrier Vikramaditya. The main question still revolves around the replacement of the Mig -29 for naval operations. Admiral Lamba also asserted that AMCA, the upcoming 5th generation indigenous aircraft of India, will be considered if the manufacturer and Indian government will plan to manufactures it naval variant. He also added that growing links between China and Pakistani naval authorities are being constantly checked. Recent port call of Chinese submarine at Karachi port was also mentioned by the Admiral.
Earlier, some other problems were reported in the aircraft. Its maintenance ability, performance shortcomings, lack of internal jammers and other issues were kept in mind before heading toward MK-II of the aircraft, which was proposed to have more endurance and capabilities. But as per the sources, the government is not in any interested position to focus on the enhanced version of the aircraft.
In the beginning of this year, some nations like Egypt and Srilanka have indicated their inclination toward Tejas aircraft. Srilanka headed to India for Tejas after rejecting Pakistani aircraft JF-17. These nations opted Tejas after Tejas performed well in Bahrain air show, where Pakistan withdrew JF-17 after initial decision of participating in it.
Conclusion – Tejas has been seen as the alternate to remove the dearth of the aircrafts and a replacement of the aging aircraft in the Armed Forces. Indian Air Force is already going through the shortage of 9 squadrons in its force. Moreover, the aircraft has been chosen by Indian government for export to other nations and further installation of Kaveri engine will make it more favorable for exports. But it need to get over the requirements of its home nation first in order to fulfill its cause of production. Well, the manufacturing authorities are working hard to provide best aircraft to Armed Force to bring up their capabilities and get over the expectations of the Armed Forces.
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