Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

Major boost  to indigenous defence technologies To indigenous defence technologies  at least 51% of the 123 LCA Tejas fighters that will be inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) will have the desi Uttam radar, replacing Israeli radars that the first batch of aircraft will be equipped with. In all, IAF will get 123 Tejas fighters: 40 in initial and final operational clearance (IOC and FOC) configurations and 83 Tejas Mark-1A, orders for which were placed in the first week of February. While the first 40 will have mechanical radars (all Israeli), 83 Mk-1A planes will have Active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars. “We will have the Uttam radar from the 21st Tejas Mk-1A to be produced. Uttam has performed better than anticipated in the trials so far. We’ve already signed an MoU with HAL,” DRDO chairman Sateesh Reddy told TOI. This means 63 of the 83 will be indigenous Uttam radars developed by LRDE (Electronics and Radar Development Establishment), a DRDO lab in Bengal...

The Indian Air Force (IAF) organised an air show at the Air Force Station, Sulur  On Friday to mark the golden jubilee celebrations or ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ of the victory in 1971 India-Pakistan War. A release said that the ‘Air Fest 2021’ began with the display of the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Mk-1, which was inducted into service at Sulur in May 2020. This was followed by the operational displays by An-32 transport aircraft and Mi-17 V5 helicopters. The aerobatics demonstration by the IAF’s Surya Kiran and Sarang teams concluded the air show. The air show was followed by static display of aircraft along with various armaments and equipment at the Air Force Station for the school and college students who witnessed the event, according to the release. Air Commodore Samir J. Pendse, Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Station, Sulur, recalled that two of the units from Sulur participated in the 1971 War. The An-21 Squadron, which is present in the Sulur Air ...

The IAF has already issued the Request for Information (RFI) for the tender. Global leaders including fighter jet manufacturers from the US, France, Russia and Sweden have responded to the RFI. With the deal for 83 LCA Tejas Mark 1A aircraft set to be signed during upcoming Aero India. Indian Air Force is now looking to focus on the multirole fighter aircraft project under which it is planning to acquire 114 combat aircraft expected to cost over Rs 1.3 lakh crore.  The Air Force had been undertaking one fighter aircraft project at a time and now its 83 LCA Mark 1A fighters have been cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rs 50,000 crore deal is set to be signed in Bengaluru during Aero India.  "The 83 LCA Tejas would be replacing the four squadrons of the MiG-21 fighter jets which are set to be phased out in near future. The focus would now be on the 114 fighter jets project ". The IAF has already issued the Request for Inform...

Representative Image Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief Dr G Satheesh Reddy said on Wednesday that the ₹48,000 crore defence deal, cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, would pave way for developing various advanced aircraft systems in India. Clearing the biggest indigenous defence procurement deal, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the purchase of 83 LCA (light combat aircraft) Tejas Mk-1A jets which will take the tally of Tejas variants ordered to 123. Further terming the procurement deal as a ‘great day for the Indian aeronautical scientific community and industry’, Reddy told news agency ANI, “Getting approval for the order of the largest quantity of aircraft ever is a big achievement and is the culmination of hard work of three decades.” The DRDO chief also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving a go ahead for this project. The deal will be signed in the coming days with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It will be a majo...

(Representative image) Indian Air Force Day 2020: The Tejas LCA, Jaguar, Mig-29, Mig-21 and Sukhoi-30 aircraft were part of the rehearsal, besides the newly inducted Rafale fighter jet, an IAF official said. The Suryakiran aerobatic team and Sarang aerobatic team were also part of the fly past. The Indian Air Force conducted a full dress rehearsal today, including a fly past by its aircraft, at its Hindon base in Ghaziabad for the 88th Indian Air Force Day on October 8. The Tejas LCA, Jaguar, Mig-29, Mig-21 and Sukhoi-30 aircraft were part of the rehearsal, besides the newly inducted Rafale fighter jet, an IAF official said. Indian Air Force Conducts Full Dress Rehearsal Ahead Of 88th Air Force Day https://t.co/y2YgIRNTkE pic.twitter.com/zTc9F6gl5E — NDTV (@ndtv) October 6, 2020 Five Rafale fighter jets were formally inducted into the IAF on September 10 in a major boost to India's air power capability at a time when the country has been engaged in a months-long tense border ...

Representative Image  Addressing a seminar on ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India), organised by the Ministry of Defence recently, the PM exhorted the armed forces to embark on the self-reliance mission with full self-confidence. He also dwelt on the need to make India a defence manufacturing hub with the active involvement of the private sector not only in manufacturing but also in research and development. One of the key pathways to realising this vision could be opened if the Indian Air Force (IAF) unleashes a wave of domestic manufacturing to revamp its fleet. The euphoria generated by the arrival of Rafale should not blind us to the long haul that the IAF needs to make in renewing and expanding its fleet to overcome obsolescence and attrition. The threat of a two-front war currently looms large with an intransigent China least hesitant to mobilise its forces to grab territory or collude with Pakistan. In the current context every effort has to be made to fill in the voids...