India’s Tejas light combat aircraft has emerged as the top choice for Malaysia as the Southeast Asian country looks to replace its aging fighter jet fleet and both sides are in talks to go ahead with the procurement process.
Despite stiff competition from China’s JF-17 jets, South Korea’s FA-50 and Russia’s MiG-35 as well as the Yak-130, Malaysia has eased its hold on Indian aircraft, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) said. Chairman and Managing Director of R. Madhavan told PTI in an interview.
As part of the package, India Malaysia has offered to set up an MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facility in Malaysia for its Russian-origin Su-30 fighter fleet as it faces difficulties in procuring aircraft parts from Russia in the wake of Western sanctions against Moscow. Used to be.
Asked if the mega-deal will close soon, Madhavan said, “I am very confident about it.”
The top executive of the state-run aerospace giant said that if the deal closes, it would send a “very good signal” to other potential buyers of the aircraft and boost its overall export potential.
“It (negotiations) are almost in the final stages. We are the only country offering them support for their Sukhoi-30 aircraft apart from Russia, we are the only ones who can support them as per their requirement for that fleet,” Madhavan said.
It turns out that the Chinese JF-17 was cheaper, but it could not match the technical parameters of the Tejas Mk-IA variant and the Su-30 fleet maintenance offer proposed by India.
A team of highly placed officials and experts are expected to visit India soon to take the procurement process forward.
Madhavan said Tejas is a much better aircraft than the JF-17 and FA-50 and the selection of Indian aircraft will give Malaysia an option to go for fleet upgrades in future.
Tejas, manufactured by HAL, is a single engine and highly agile multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments.
In February last year, the Defense Ministry inked a Rs 48,000-crore deal with HAL for the purchase of 83 Tejas fighter jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
India has started work on an ambitious USD 5 billion project to develop the fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) along with the Mk 2 variant of Tejas.
“Actually we are the only ones who covered everything they needed and we also met their budget requirements,” Madhavan said.
“No one will offer them an upgrade as fast as we will offer. They will have an option available in Tejas Mark 2 and they can also think of AMCA,” the HAL chief said.
It was not immediately clear how many planes Malaysia is looking to buy.
He said that HAL is going to maintain the same level of services to Malaysia as it has been providing to the Indian Air Force.
Asked whether the supply of Tejas jets to IAF would be affected if HAL wins the Malaysian contract, Madhavan said production of the aircraft would be scaled up based on the requirement.
As per the plan, HAL will start delivering jets (Mk-IA variant) to the Indian Air Force in 2025 and all 83 jets will have to be handed over by 2030.
Madhavan said, if the deal with Malaysia happens, it would indicate acceptability of the aircraft which would result in opening up of many other options.
“Now we have a very good platform. It is the best in this category,” he said.
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