NEW DELHI : India plans to switch to locally-made fighter jets, two years after asking global companies to submit proposals to supply 114 combat aircraft in the world’s biggest warplane contract.
The country’s air force is finalizing plans to induct indigenously made Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas to boost the capability of its aging combat aircraft fleet, Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat said in an interview in New Delhi.
It will buy an additional 83 jets, apart from an earlier deal for 40 aircraft, for $6 billion, he said. “The Indian Air Force is switching that to the LCA," Rawat said, when asked about the global tender for jets. “The IAF is saying, I would rather take the indigenous fighter, it is good." The decision is a set back for