DEF-AIRCRAFT-ACQUISITION

India to acquire 200 fighter jets for Air Force: Defence secy
    Kolkata, Jan 12 (PTI) The government is in the process
of acquiring around 200 aircraft to cope with the depleting
aerial inventories of the Indian Air Force, defence secretary
Ajay Kumar said here on Sunday.
    The contract for HAL-manufactured 83 LCA Tejas Mark 1
A advanced fighter jets are in the final stages, he said.
    Apart from these, Expression of Interest (EOI) has
been floated for another 110 aircraft, based on which Request
for Proposal (RFP) will be floated, Kumar said.
    "Roughly (for) 200 aircrafts, the acquisition is in
process," he said.
    "We are in the process of finalising the contract for
83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mark 1 A, which are advanced
fighters to meet the urgent needs of India," the defence
secretary told reporters on the sidelines of commissioning
Indian Coast Guard vessels here.
    Kumar said that the contract for the LCAs will be
signed "definitely this year".
    "We want to do it as soon as possible," the defence
secretary said when asked whether a time frame has been
finalised by which the new aircraft are to be acquired.
    Kumar said that with the design having been finalised,
state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
(HAL) will be ramping up production of the LCA Mark 1 A jets
from 8 to 16 per year.
    "If required, through outsourcing, we can further
enhance it," he said.
    The Air Force has Sukhoi 30 MKIs, Mirage 2000s, Mig
29s and the ageing Jaguars and Mig 21 Bisons in its inventory
of fighter jets at present.
    The last fleet of seven swing-wing MiG-27 fighters,
which played an important role during the 1999 Kargil war, was
decommissioned on December 27. PTI AMR
SOM SOM

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)