India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) approved on 18 March the procurement of 83 units of the Mk 1A variant of the country’s indigenously designed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) for the Indian Air Force (IAF) reported Janes magazine.
The Indian government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) announced the same day that the MoD’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which is headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, finalised “contractual and other issues” related to the procurement of the single-engine Mk 1A fighters but did not reveal the cost.
Official sources, however, told Jane’s that acquiring the 73 single-seat fighters and 10 dual-seat trainers would cost an estimated $5.25 billion, adding that the final deal for the fighters is likely to be signed “soon”.
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