India's indigenously developed Tejas is aircraft of future: IAF Chief
(Sourced from PTI)
Air Force Chief BS Dhanoa said if Pakistan's fighter jet JF-17 is aircraft of the present, then India's indigenously developed Tejas is the future. JF-17 is a lightweight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by Pakistan and China. However, Tejas, built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), is a light combat aircraft. It was inducted into the Indian Air Force in July 2016. Here's more.
"There is a very good article in one of the aviation journals. The author says JF-17 is not as technologically-advanced as Tejas. JF-17 aircraft is of today because they have fielded much more squadrons than us; Tejas is aircraft of future. It has much better systems," Dhanoa said. "It depends on how we equip it," he added on which one is the better aircraft.
Asked whether there were issues regarding Tejas during the exercise, Dhanoa responded in the affirmative. He said this could be because of moving the jets from Bengaluru, which has a temperate climate, to hot desert during the operation. "But HAL got it up in less than six hours and thereafter, Tejas matched with other aircraft detail for detail," he said.
Replying to another question on whether Tejas can be compared to Rafale, the Air Force Chief said every fighter jet has different capability. "If all fighters (jets) of IAF were high-end fighters then we have to be very rich. You got to have fighter jets which are high-end and medium capability and low-end. So, Tejas comes in medium capability aircraft (category)," Dhanoa said.
Dhanoa added that the Air Force is moving towards making the aircraft better. On Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet, Dhanoa said the IAF has not evinced any interest nor has it talked to anyone that is keen on this aircraft.
