NEW DELHI: India’s two major indigenous aviation gems, the Tejas fighter jets and the Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), which hopes to export to other countries in large quantities, will not be part of the Republic Day Flyover this year.
The IAF on Thursday said “a political decision” has been taken to not allow single-engine fighters like the Tejas to fly over the Kartavya trail due to security reasons.
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Consequently, only twin-engine aircraft such as the Rafales of French origin, the Sukhoi-30MKI and MiG-29 of Russian origin and the Jaguars of Anglo-French origin will participate in the annual celebrations.
The armed forces’ 330 twin-engine ALHs, in turn, remain grounded after one of the Coast Guard helicopters crashed in Porbandar, Gujarat, on January 5, killing the two co-pilots and the diver, which underlines once again its problematic security. record over the years, as first reported by TOI.
This time, the parade will feature 40 aircraft operating from 10 different bases, including 22 fighters and 11 transport aircraft such as the US-origin C-130J “Super Hercules” and the C-17 Globemaster-III.
There will be seven helicopters, including four Mi-17 V5s of Russian origin and three Apache attack helicopters of American origin. The preponderance of foreign-sourced aircraft on flights is a grim reminder of the nascent domestic military aviation sector.
ALH have been a Republic Day regular for over a decade, but the decision to keep Tejas away is surprising. Four Tejas fighters flew in a “diamond” formation in last year’s parade after the locally-made light combat aircraft made its debut during the 2017 parade.
Tejas, however, also did not participate in the 2022 and 2023 flight. A twin-engine aircraft, of course, provides an extra layer of safety to avoid an accident if one of the engines fails.
ALH manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has asked all operators to continue suspending flights of the 5.5-tonne helicopters until the “root cause” of the January 5 accident is established through investigations. in progress.
ALH’s entire fleet was also grounded two or three times in 2023 after four major accidents. HAL had then carried out technical safety improvements after cases of metallurgical and design flaws, including a “collective failure”, which controls power to the rotors and vice versa, were reported in the multi-mission helicopters, as earlier reported by TOI .
On the Texas front, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh last week publicly expressed his frustration over the huge delays in the delivery of fighters to the IAF by HAL. While China showcased two new sixth-generation fighters last month, India is struggling to even produce the fourth-generation Tejas Mark-1A fighters, mainly due to the continued delay in the supply of GE-F404 turbofan jet engines by the important American company General Electric.
So far, the IAF has only 38 of the first 40 Tejas Mark-1 fighters ordered for Rs 8,802 crore under two contracts signed in 2006 and 2010. It is yet to get the first “upgraded” Tejas Mark-1A aircraft from the 83 hired. of HAL under the Rs 46,898 crore deal in February 2021. Another 97 Tejas Mark-1A fighters worth Rs 67,000 crore will also be ordered soon.
With only 30 fighter squadrons when it is authorized to 42.5 to face the double challenge of China and Pakistan, the IAF wants to induct these 180 Tejas Mark-1A and another 108 Tejas Mark-2 aircraft, with more powerful engines, during the next anus. 10 to 15 years to make up for their rapidly depleting numbers.