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| DRDO designed Tejas LCA during Ski Jump launch testing |
By: Vivek Raghuvanshi
NEW DELHI - The Indian navy has issued a global request for information to procure 57 multirole fighters for its aircraft carriers at an estimated price tag of $15 billion.
The industry solicitation was floated by the sea service in mid-January, as the indigenously developed naval version of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), designed and developed by state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), does not meet requirements.
The Indian navy wants new fighters for its lone aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, and another carrier currently under construction, the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier, or IAC-1.
Notably, the request for information does not specify if the navy wants single- or twin-engine fighters for its aircraft carriers.
The bidding companies are asked to respond to the RFI by May 24.
The naval prototypes of India's own LCA jet have multiple design deficiencies making them unsuitable for the intended aircraft-carrier role, a senior Indian navy official said. Those include endurance and weapons-carrying capability, according to the official. "It will continue to be DRDO program but funding from Indian Navy will stop and DRDO will have to fund this program now by itself to bring improvements," the official added.
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