New DELHI: India on Tuesday gave the ultimate nod for acquisition of one other 97 indigenous Tejas fighter jets and 6 superior airborne early-warning and management (AEW&C) plane or “eyes within the sky”, collectively value round Rs 85,500 crore, which might be essential to sort out the collusive and ‘fused’ problem from China-Pakistan within the years forward.The PM-led cupboard committee on safety (CCS) authorised the Rs 66,500 crore deal for 97 “improved” Tejas Mark-1A fighters to be produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Restricted (HAL), which can add to the 83 such single-engine gentle fight plane already ordered from defence PSU beneath a Rs 46,898 crore deal inked in Feb 2021, prime sources advised TOI.“The primary two jets of the 83 ordered earlier are totally prepared. The ultimate weapons firing trials (together with Astra air-to-air missiles) are slated for Sept. With the order for an additional 97 jets, HAL will have the ability to broaden and stabilise its provide chains,” a supply mentioned.Confronted with flak from IAF chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh for large delays in deliveries, HAL has promised to progressively scale up manufacturing to twenty Tejas per yr, after which to 24-30 per yr, with the third manufacturing line now totally purposeful in Nashik so as to add to the 2 present ones at Bengaluru, aside from non-public sector provide chains.The venture for six AEW&C plane, which can entail mounting energetic electronically scanned array antenna-based radars, digital and sign intelligence methods on second-hand Airbus-321 planes purchased earlier from Air India, in flip, will value Rs 19,000 crore. “All six AEW&C plane might be delivered by 2033-34,” the supply mentioned.Well timed induction of the 180 Tejas Mark-1A fighters is required to stem fast depletion within the variety of IAF fighter squadrons (every has 16-18 jets), which can go all the way down to its lowest-ever determine of 29 squadrons subsequent month after retirement of the 36 outdated MiG-21s nonetheless in service.IAF, by the way, is authorised 42.5 fight squadrons. Pakistan now has 25 fighter squadrons, and is slated to get at the very least 40 J-35A fifth-generation stealth jets from China within the close to future. China, in fact, has greater than 4 occasions the variety of fighters, bombers and force-multipliers as in comparison with India.Within the AEW&C enviornment, that are required to spice up surveillance capabilities alongside the borders in addition to assist direct pleasant fighters throughout air fight with enemy jets, India lags far behind even Pakistan. IAF at the moment has simply three Netra AEW&C Mark-1 planes, with indigenous sensors mounted on Brazilian Embraer-145 jets for 240-degree radar protection, and three Israeli ‘Phalcon’ radars mounted on Russian IL-76 plane.The brand new AEW&C venture will contain the A-321 narrow-body plane first being “hardened and modified” in Spain after which being outfitted with an antenna within the nostril along with the primary dorsal antenna to offer 300-degree radar protection. To make up numbers, defence ministry in March additionally accorded the preliminary “acceptance of necessity” to a separate venture for six Netra Mark-1A on Embraer-145 jets, with extra superior applied sciences than the primary three Mark-1 plane.On the Tejas entrance, IAF until now has obtained 38 of the primary 40 Tejas Mark-1 fighters ordered for Rs 8,802 crore beneath two contracts inked in 2006 and 2010.