India is in talks with Egyptian and Argentine officials over supplying 35 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Tejas LCA Mk-1A aircraft, writes data analytics and consulting company GlobalData.
According to Chandan Kumar Nayak, Defense Analyst at GlobalData, the contracts will help the country achieve its vision of developing more advanced aircraft with indigenous components such as the Uttam active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and the Unified Electronic Warfare Suite (UEWS), which have been promoted under the self reliance initiative. Additional steps are likely to be implemented as part of the programme to encourage local military industries to participate in the supply chain and strengthen self-reliance on the local market. Self reliance is a theme promoted by successive governments since independence.
In recent years, there has been a greater emphasis on indigenization, which has reoriented domestic military industries to seek out global markets. Indian defence equipment producers are currently focused on improving their R&D and manufacturing skills to support indigenous initiatives.
According to reports, the proposed agreement for Egypt will involve a full transfer of technology (ToT) to encourage the manufacture of Tejas aircraft on Egyptian soil. In contrast, Argentina’s procurement will require replacing its old fleet of Lockheed Martin’s A-4AR Fightinghawks. If these agreements are signed, the Tejas LCA Mk-1 will be the first combat aircraft transferred from India to another country. GlobalData forecasts that the transactions will produce $1.5-2 billion in income for HAL.
