Thursday, February 10 2005 16:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: The Indian Air Force (IAF) will soon sign a contract to buy 20 Tejas, the homegrown light combat aircraft, with an option to buy another twenty more at a total cost of Rs 4,000 crore, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi said today (Feb 10, 2005).

"We are soon signing a contract to buy 40 aircraft in two stages, 20 firm and 20 options. The cost of each aircraft is around Rs 100 crore," Tyagi told reporters at the Aero India air show in Bangalore. He said that the IAF hopes to receive the Tejas from State-owned aircraft maker after 2008.

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The tailless, delta-winged, fly-by-wire, single-engine supersonic fighter, being developed by DRDO's (Defence Research Development Organisation) Aeronautical Development Agency, made its maiden fight on January 4, 2001 and is expected to replace IAF's MiG fleet from the next decade.

Tyagi said that the 40 aircraft would be powered by an American GE-404F engine. The aircraft is currently undergoing development flight trials. Three prototypes have flown for nearly 150 hours since the maiden flight, but it needs to achieve over 1,500 hours of flying before the Tejas gets the initial clearance.

"The 1,500 hours will be achieved by a number of aeroplanes, including a two-seater trainer version. We have been assured that it would complete the flying hours well in time by them DRDO," he said

Asked about the delays of the Kaveri engine, which DRDO's Bangalore-based Gas Turbine and Research Establishment (GTRE) is developing, Tyagi said the designers have assured that the homegrown engine programme was on track and would be integrated with the LCA.

"I think we should fly our own aircraft designed in India and with an Indian engine. I want to fly the LCA with an Indian engine," he said, but hastened to add that, if the time frame for the Kaveri power plant gets delayed, "we are already using the GE engines".

India recently signed an agreement to buy 40 404-f engines from American power plant maker General Electric, in addition to the 11 contracted for the initial development programme of the LCA project.

The LCA project was delayed due to the US sanctions following the 1998 Pokhran nuclear blasts, but indigenous development and relationship renewed after US lifted the sanctions in 2001. Meanwhile, Yogesh Kumar, Director, Design and Development, HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) said that the fourth Tejas aircraft, the prototype vehicle-2 (PV-2) with weaponisation, would take off in the next eight months.

HAL is engaged in limited series production of eight Tejas and plans to deliver the aircraft to the IAF by 2008, officials said.