New Delhi, April 2 The Indian Air Force's Tejas light combat jets are set to return to the skies next week, two months after the entire fleet was grounded following an accident involving one of the aircraft at a frontline airbase.
D K Sunil, the Chairman and Managing Director of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the manufacturer of the jets, said that the entire fleet of 34 Tejas will likely fly again from April 8, as the glitch found in the aircraft's software has been resolved.
"All the Tejas jets are set to fly again from next Wednesday," he said.
The fleet was grounded in the first week of February after one Tejas jet sustained damage to its airframe after it overshot the runway at the airbase following a suspected brake failure.
The IAF had also ordered a comprehensive scrutiny of the jets following the accident.
On delays in the delivery of the Tejas Mark 1A variant to the Indian Air Force (IAF), Sunil said that HAL will be able to deliver over 20 jets by December, and that six of them could be supplied soon as the final tests of radar, avionics, and missile-firing systems were currently underway.
The delivery of the jets is facing delays primarily due to GE Aerospace missing several deadlines for supplying its F-404 aero engines to power the jets.
In response to a question about the IAF flagging certain issues related to the performance of the jets, the HAL CMD said that a project review committee in May is expected to clear the jets for deliveries.
US defence major GE Aerospace has delivered five jet engines to HAL, and the sixth one is expected to be supplied in the next few days.
It is also learnt that HAL has imposed penalties on GE Aviation under the provision of Liquidated Damages for the delay in the delivery of the engines for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft Mark 1A.
The penalties are being imposed on GE Aerospace as per the contract. In February 2021, the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with HAL for the procurement of 83 Tejas Mk-1A jets for the IAF.
The defence ministry in September last year sealed another deal worth Rs 62,370 crore with HAL to procure 97 Tejas MK-1A light combat aircraft for the IAF.
Tejas is a single-engine multi-role fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments.
It has been designed to undertake air defence, maritime reconnaissance, and strike roles.
The IAF is looking at inducting these warplanes as the number of its fighter squadrons has gone down to 29 from the officially sanctioned strength of 42.