The indigenous Light Combat Aircraft, expected to be inducted into the Indian Air Force in 2007, could be offered to friendly countries in the future, Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy said on Monday.
The Kaveri jet engine being developed indigenously for the LCA has shown good results in high-altitude tests in Russia and India, he said.
If Kaveri is successful, India would become the sixth country to develop a jet engine.
The first LCAs to enter service would, however, run on GE 404 engines as Kaveri jet engines will not be ready in 2007, the air chief said.
"I am sure some friendly countries would like to have LCA," he said and added that during his recent interactions with air chiefs of some countries, they showed keen interest in LCA.
He said the third aircraft for test flights is expected to be ready soon. Till now over 112 sorties, including supersonic ones, have been carried out by the two LCAs that are under trials.
The IAF would require about 200 LCAs to replace the MIG-21s, he said.
The air chief's positive remarks on LCA came even as he lamented the increasing gap between tretirement of old aircraft and induction of new ones. He said the 'processing chip' of the Ministry of Defence and service headquarters needs to be replaced with a faster one so that delays in processing requests and acquisitions are eliminated.
During his formal interaction with the media, the air chief said he is not concerned over reports of Pakistan getting new Apache helicopters from US and F-16s from other countries. Except in war, "we need not be competitors," the air chief said.
At least 17 sophisticated simulators for various aircraft are under development by the IAF, he said elaborating on several steps initiated for improving training.
Also, the final papers for the Advanced Jet Trainers, Hawks from Britian, will be ready by December and an agreement signed immediately after, he said.
The IAF is planning a combat exercise with the US Air Force in India, involving F-15s of the Americans and Indian fighters. It would be first such exercise after 1962, he said.
Putting stress on indigenisation throughout his interaction, the air chief said India could think of developing its own jet trainers instead of buying more than the present projected 66 Hawks from Britain.
The Intermediate Jet Trainers developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, he said, could be further developed into AJTs, he said.
Conceptually, the IAF is already working on aerospace systems, the air chief said and pointed out that increasing military use of satellites and drones is forcing the IAF to think about an aerospace command and system.
