Malaysia to procure 18 Tejas aircraft from India; US, Australia shows interest

New Delhi, Aug 6: In a boost to Atmanirbhar Bharat, the central government told the Parliament that Malaysia is procuring 18 Tejas jets while the US, Argentina, Australia, Egypt, Indonesia and Philippines too have shown interest to procure the light combat aircraft (LCA).

 

 

The government said, "Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a defence PSU under the Ministry of Defence, responded to a request for information received from Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in February 2019 for LCA class aircraft." Notably, Malaysia is procuring the aircraft to replace its ageing fleet of Russian MiG-29 fighter aircraft

 

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said, "Subsequently in October 2021, HAL responded to request for proposal issued against tender released by the Royal Malaysian Air Force for 18 Fighter Lead In Trainer - Light Combat Aircraft (FLIT-LCA) and offered the LCA Tejas twin seater variant."

 

 

It is pertinent to mention that earlier in July the then Chairman and Managing Director of HAL R Madhavan said the Tejas aircraft has emerged as the top choice for Malaysia. He said that "he is very confident" about the closing of the mega-deal between both countries.

 

 

In his written reply to the question asked about the Tejas aircraft, Minister of State Ajay Bhatt said, "The Government has taken several policy initiatives in the past few years and brought in reforms to encourage indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment in the country, thereby expanding their production," according to the press release of Ministry of Defence.