India's Ministry of Defence signed a contract worth 623.7 billion (7 billion US dollars) with the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to procure an additional 97 single-engine Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk 1A for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The Ministry of Defence stated on September 25 that the deal includes the acquisition of 68 single-seat aircraft and 29 dual-seat aircraft. It said that the delivery of the second batch of Mk 1A aircraft is scheduled to begin in 2027-28 and will be completed within six years. The new procurement will bring the Indian Air Force's planned inventory of LCA Mk 1A to 180 aircraft.
The Indian Air Force had ordered the first batch of 73 Mk 1A and 10 Mk 1A trainer aircraft in 2021. The Ministry of Defence stated that the newly ordered aircraft will be equipped with locally developed core systems, including control surface actuators, the Uttam Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, and an electronic warfare suite named "Swayam Raksha Kavach".
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7554189842226201107/
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