NEW DELHI: India on Thursday signed a $7 billion order for 97 domestically designed and built Tejas fighter jets as its air force retires its outgoing Russian MiG-21 jets after decades of use.&nbsp;The first Tejas jets <span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;" id="isPasted">&mdash; meaning &quot;brilliance&quot; in Hindi <span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;" id="isPasted">&mdash; were commissioned into the air force in 2016, with the latest commission for the fourth-generation version of the fighter, Mk-1A.&nbsp;India, one of the world&#39;s largest arms importers, has made the modernization of its forces a top priority and has made repeated pushes to boost local arms production.&nbsp;India&#39;s Ministry of Defense said it had &quot;signed a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for procurement of 97 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A, including 68 fighters and 29 twin seaters&quot;.&nbsp;HAL is a government defense manufacturer.&nbsp;&quot;The delivery of these aircraft would commence during 2027-28 and be completed over a period of six years,&quot; the defense ministry added.&nbsp;New Delhi is eyeing threats from multiple nations, especially neighboring Pakistan. India fought a four-day conflict in May, their worst clash since 1999.&nbsp;Both sides claimed victory, each boasting of downing the other&#39;s fighter jets.&nbsp;The Tejas jet ordered is the &quot;most advanced variant of the indigenously designed and manufactured fighter aircraft&quot;, the defense ministry added, saying it will be &quot;a potent platform&quot; for the air force.&nbsp;India on Friday is to hold a flypast ceremony in a major air force base in Chandigarh, the final flight of their Soviet-era MiG-21s, in use since the 1960s.&nbsp;India also signed in April a multi-billion-dollar deal to purchase 26 Rafale fighter jets from France&#39;s Dassault Aviation.&nbsp;They will join 36 Rafale fighters already acquired.&nbsp;In August, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said India was working with a French company to develop and manufacture fighter jet engines in the country.&nbsp;This decade, India has opened an expansive helicopter factory, launched its first domestically made aircraft carrier, warships and submarines, and conducted a successful long-range hypersonic missile test.&nbsp;India&#39;s latest test was of an Agni-Prime missile with a 2,000-kilometer (1,242-mile) range on Wednesday <span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;" id="isPasted">&mdash; this time fitted onto a special railway-based system.

India

India, one of the world's largest arms importers, makes the modernization of its forces a top priority and repeatedly pushes to boost local arms production.

Articles tagged with "Hindustan Aeronautics Limited"

India signs $7 bn deal for 97 domestically made fighter jets