Indian made military aircraft's

At last after 27 years the day has come for the first 4^th generation fighter aircraft to get the Initial Operation Clearance(IOC) i.e., now the aircraft can be inducted into the IAF.

Wow, my country has done it Im proud. But I cant take much pride from it,because though the aerial design,aerodynamics,integration,manufacturing has been done in INDIA, the sad truth is that some of the core and integral parts of an aircraft like the engine, radars, weaponries all are made in other countries.This includes the engine from the General Electrics,Radars from israel, Integration of all weaponries and control systems  from the British and Italy helping in the composite skins for the wings.

Having said all those things,still it is an remarkable achievement, considering the fact that our INDIA got independence only in the late 1940′s ,when most of the western nations developed and used fighter aircrafts for war.The layout for the project was started way back in 1983,but due to lack in infrastructure and ruining economy of the country,and adding more fuel to the fire was the array of formalities in the Indian government that always irritates before starting an project.

And after all the drama and chaos,known to be the case in India in all government projects, the fund finally came in 1993,exactly a decade after the project was rolled out.An whooping 2,188 crore has been alloted for the development project,from then the going has been good,until the 1998 pokhran tests,after which the United States started imposing trade sanctions on INDIA.Again the development of the aircraft got an beating during the tenure of the then NDA govt, an american defence firm inspected the fighter aircraft prototype and gave an report to the then defence minister Mr.George Fernandez,saying the aircraft is completely unfit for defence purposes,it is completely unsafe, and not fit for anything,and subsequently requested not to give nod for an air surveillance.This is the cable that triggered the scientists in DRDO and HAL,which elevated them to an greater level,scientists from all over the country proved the critics

wrong and showcased the ability of INDIA by successfully testing the TEJAS and getting the IOC(Initial Operation Clearance) from the defence ministry.

Now the Pros and Cons:

The test flight came at an interesting time,few days after INDIA tested its 4th generation aircraft,China in turn to show its supremacy,tested its 5th generation stealth aircraft Jengdu-20 successfully,which had raised eyebrows not only in INDIA but also in the western world.Because stealth aircraft are not easy to design and develop,only two countries in the world are having stealth fighters,USAF(F22 Raptor) and Russian T50 PAK-FA,now china joins them.

Though India’s achievement is considered as an big leap towards the multi-trillion$ defense industry,it still have a long way to go in order to complete with those in the western side and China.An interesting update about India’s presence in the manufacturing of 5th generation stealth aircraft is soon to follow in my next post here.