news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

according to reference news network, the times of india website published an article on october 5 titled "indian air force chief of staff says china surpasses india in technology and defense production infrastructure", written by rajat pandey special. an excerpt from the article is as follows:

by deploying more aircraft, china is gradually weakening india's air combat advantage in border areas. the chief of staff of the indian air force stated on the 4th that the indian air force is also upgrading its air bases, and at the same time requires hindustan aeronautics limited to speed up the delivery of domestically produced "tejas" fighter jets, and also requires the private sector to play a greater role in defense production.

indian air force chief of staff singh delivered a speech ahead of indian air force day on october 8. he said that the indian air force is superior to the chinese air force in training fighter pilots, "personnel who operate machines" and combat tactics, but india "lags behind" china in military technology and "far behind" china in defense production. "we have to catch them," he said.

singh acknowledged that the indian air force is grappling with the dwindling number of fighter squadrons. the indian air force can have 42 fighter squadrons, but currently there are only 30 fighter squadrons. "we are focusing on fighting with what we have... so training becomes very important," singh said.

singh said that china is rapidly building infrastructure, but india is also building new airports, and india is also strengthening the capabilities of existing air bases and striving to be able to take off and land more aircraft.

"it is important that our manufacturing organizations increase their production rates," singh said. if hindustan aeronautics limited keeps its promise to increase the annual production of tejas fighter jets to 24, the indian air force will be able to make up for the shortfall. "the private sector must also come on board... we cannot rely on just one production facility," he said.

according to two contracts signed in 2006 and 2010, the indian air force ordered the first batch of 40 "tejas" mk1 fighter jets at a price of 88.02 billion indian rupees (approximately rmb 7.35 billion). so far, the indian air force has only received 38 aircraft.

in 2021, the indian air force signed a contract with hindustan aeronautics limited to purchase 83 "improved" "tejas" mk1a aircraft at a price of 468.98 billion indian rupees, but the indian air force has not yet received one of these aircraft. in addition, the indian air force will also order 97 "tejas" mk1a fighter jets.

then, the indian air force plans to formally establish at least six squadrons composed of "tejas" mk2 fighter jets, which have a larger combat range and stronger weapons carrying capabilities. in august 2022, the cabinet security committee chaired by the prime minister of india approved the development cost of more than 90 billion indian rupees for the mk2 fighter equipped with a more powerful ge-f414 engine. the mk2 fighter is scheduled to make its first test flight in october next year.

"the schedule has to be adhered to," singh added.