HAL 테자스, 첫 추락사고 발생

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인도 서부 라자스탄주 자이살메르시 근처에서 HAL 테자스가 지난 화요일 추락했습니다. 이는 2016년 테자스가 도입된 후 처음으로 발생한 추락사고이고, 파일럿은 무사히 탈출했습니다. 

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/tejas-crashes-for-first-time-minutes-after-taking-part-in-military-drills-101710304121836.html

Tejas crashes for first time minutes after taking part in military drills

Tejas crashes for first time minutes after taking part in military drills

ByRahul Singh

Mar 13, 2024 09:58 AM IST

The aircraft had flown during the tri-services Bharat Shakti exercise at the Pokhran firing range near Jaisalmer along with another Tejas fighter before it went down

POKHRAN (RAJASTHAN) A Tejas aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Tuesday crashed near Jaisalmer, minutes after taking part in a tri-services exercise that sought to demonstrate the strides India has made towards self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector, officials aware of the matter said.

People try to douse fire at the site of Tejas crash. (PTI)

This marks the first crash of the light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas, which IAF began inducting in July 2016.

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“One Tejas aircraft of IAF met with an accident at Jaisalmer today, during an operational training sortie. The pilot ejected safely. A Court of Inquiry has been constituted to find out the cause of the accident,” the IAF said in a statement.

The aircraft had flown during the tri-services Bharat Shakti exercise at the Pokhran firing range near Jaisalmer along with another Tejas fighter before it went down.

The two fighters fired flares during the exercise that was witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh, chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, army chief General Manoj Pande, navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and others.

The integrated tri-services ‘live fire and manoeuvre’ exercise, Bharat Shakti, displayed how the Indian military plans to leverage its indigenous capabilities for dominating the battlefield and crushing any threat to the country’s security.

Apart from LCA Mk-1, the exercise featured several weapons and systems including the light combat helicopter Prachand, armed advanced light helicopters, T-90 tanks, BMP-II infantry combat vehicles, drone launched precision guided munitions, a variety of unmanned aerial vehicles, rockets, air defence weapons, and artillery guns including Dhanush, Sharang and K9 Vajra.

“The idea of Viksit Bharat is unimaginable without Atmanirbhar Bharat,” Modi said in his address, underlining the need to reduce dependence on others. The success of the country’s self-reliance drive can be seen in locally produced military hardware including fighter jets, helicopters, missile systems and artillery guns.

“We are experiencing the flight of Made in India with arms and ammunition, communication devices, cyber and space. This is Bharat Shakti,” he said.

In February, Tejas fighters took part in Exercise Vayu Shakti-24 at the Pokhran air-to-ground range and showcased their swing-role capability as they first engaged aerial targets, and later ground ones. That exercise, based on the theme Lightning Strike from the Sky, saw a variety of fighter jets carrying out precision strikes against simulated enemy aircraft and targets on ground, including runways, bridges, ammunition dumps, radar sites, terror camps, thermal power plants and ordnance factories.

In November, Modi flew in LCA in Bengaluru and described the experience as “incredibly enriching” while also heaping praise on the country’s indigenous military capabilities. His sortie in an LCA Mk-1 fighter jet was seen as a significant endorsement of the LCA programme, and turned the spotlight on the locally produced fighter jet that IAF is looking at inducting in big numbers and India is also seeking to export.

IAF ordered 83 Mk-1A fighters for ₹48,000 crore in February 2021, and plans to buy 97 more Mk-1As at an estimated cost of ₹67,000 crore. In October 2023, state-run plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited handed over the first trainer version of LCA Mk-1 to Chaudhari in Bengaluru, with the twin seater set to fill a key training role and double as a fighter if needed.

The aircraft is part of an earlier order for 40 Mk-1 jets in the initial operational clearance (IOC) and the more advanced final operational clearance (FOC) configurations --- the first variants of LCA. Of the 40 Mk-1s, IAF has inducted 32 single seater jets and raised two LCA squadrons. The remaining eight aircraft are trainers and all of them will be delivered to IAF by March 2024.

The latest crash comes at a time when IAF is getting ready to induct the first Mk-1A aircraft by March-end. The last of the 83 jets already ordered will be delivered by 2028.

LCA is set to emerge as the cornerstone of IAF’s combat power in the coming decade and beyond. IAF, the world’s fourth largest air force, is expected to operate around 350 LCAs (Mk-1, Mk-1A and Mk-2 versions), with a third of those already ordered, some inducted, and the rest figuring prominently on the air force’s modernisation roadmap and expected to be contracted in the coming years, as previously reported by HT.

The newer variants, Mk-1A and Mk-2, will come with significantly improved features and technologies over the current Mk-1 aircraft.

IAF will deploy LCAs at forward air bases in the western sector to bolster its combat readiness against Pakistan and fill the gap left by the gradual phasing out of the Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter jets.

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