The delivery of the jets are facing delays primarily due to GE Aerospace missing several deadlines for supply of its aero engines to power the jets.
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) expressed deep sorrow over the death of an Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Namansh Syal, in a Tejas aircraft crash during an aerial display at the Dubai Air Show. The incident involved the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and marked the second crash involving a HAL-manufactured aircraft in 20 months.
This is the fourth peacetime crash of an IAF jet in 2025 so far.
India and Russia have agreed to jointly produce a twin-engine narrow-body passenger aircraft for short-haul flights, marking a significant step in their strategic ties. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Russia's Public Joint Stock Company United Aircraft Corporation (PJSC-UAC) have signed an agreement for the production of SJ-100 aircraft in India.
According to an international media report, the jet crashed in the afternoon local time while flying a demonstration flight at the prestigious air show.
This is seen as the first concrete opportunity to break HAL's monopoly in combat aircraft manufacturing, potentially opening the door to a private-sector fighter jet producer.
HAL's order book amounts to Rs 2.45 trillion by end of Q2FY26, implying a book-to-bill ratio of 32 times based on FY25 revenue.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to retire its MiG-21 aircraft in September after over six decades of service. The last of the MiG-21 jets will be given a farewell at a ceremony in Chandigarh.
In the phone conversation on Tuesday, Singh urged Hegseth to expedite the delivery of GE F404 engines to power the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, people familiar with the matter said.
'The aircraft is expected to be ready for rollout between January and March 2026, and to fly by the end of the year.'
A five-member team, headed by Sanjay Kumar Singh, is probing the fatal crash of the Air India aircraft last month in Ahmedabad that killed 260 people. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has released its preliminary report and appointed the team.
'An HAL-private sector tieup is a possibility.'
The slippage in the delivery schedule for the LCA Mk-1A variant of the jet had become a major issue with Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh raising the matter publicly.
The indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-Dhruv) and the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will not be part of the upcoming Republic Day flypast in India due to the grounding of the entire fleet of ALH-Dhruv helicopters following a crash earlier this month. The grounding of the helicopters is a result of a Coast Guard ALH crash in Porbandar, Gujarat on January 5, which claimed the lives of two pilots and an aircrew diver. The decision to exclude the ALH-Dhruv and Tejas from the flypast comes as a high-level probe panel investigates the cause of the crash.
The CCS approved the proposal to buy 156 LCH 'Prachand' worth over Rs 62,500 crore from HAL, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.
The value of contracts awarded by the MoD in 2024-2025 is the highest ever and double the previous record set in 2023-2024.
Aerospace major Rolls-Royce has announced its intention to double its supply chain sourcing from India over the next five years. The company plans to increase sourcing of complex parts for advanced aerospace engines, naval propulsion systems, diesel engines, and gas turbine engines to grow its presence and participation in India's defense sector. Rolls-Royce currently sources a wide range of high-precision parts and engine components from Indian partners for its civil aerospace, defense, and power systems businesses. The company highlights India's emergence as a preferred global sourcing hub and emphasizes its commitment to strengthening partnerships with both existing and potential Indian suppliers to develop capabilities for manufacturing complex engine components locally for global markets. Rolls-Royce highlights its established ecosystem of strategic partnerships, skilled talent, engineering and digital capabilities, service delivery, supply chain, and manufacturing in India, along with a history of successful technology transfer for licensed production of various engines in the defense domain. The company believes that strengthening the supply chain and enhancing ecosystem capabilities will pave the way for future co-production opportunities, supporting India's vision of becoming a self-reliant defense powerhouse. Rolls-Royce emphasizes its commitment to serving the needs of India's armed forces and its focus on participating in co-development opportunities for critical combat engine technologies.
Three crew members were killed after a helicopter of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) crashed and caught fire at an airport on the outskirts of Gujarat's Porbandar city, police said.
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh on Thursday flagged serious concerns over inordinate delays in various defence acquisition projects and failure to stick to delivery schedules for supply of key platforms even as he hailed Operation Sindoor as a 'national victory'.
It involves India spending an estimated Rs 40,000 crores to Rs 50,000 crores and will take 10 to 15 years to develop.
The participation of the three vice chiefs in the Tarang Shakti exercise demonstrated the growing focus on cross-domain cooperation, with land, sea, and air forces working together to face modern challenges, an official said.
At a press conference ahead of Air Force Day on October 8, he also said that India needs to catch up with China on technology and speed in production of military equipment, holding that "we are way behind" the neighbour. Air Chief Marshal Singh, at the same time, said the Indian military is way ahead in terms of personnel including those operating various machines and platforms. "I am very confident that as far as human angle is concerned, as far as our people behind the machine are concerned, we are way ahead of them," he said.
'Today's situation is unacceptable. It has the potential to affect the IAF's operational capability.'
The government will set up a special purpose vehicle to push ahead with plans to start manufacturing commercial aircraft in India, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Wednesday as he highlighted the potential of the country's fast-growing aviation sector. The Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak Bill 2024, which was passed by the Lok Sabha in August, includes provisions to regulate the design and manufacturing of aircraft, supporting the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative for self-reliance.
Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, an accomplished fighter pilot with more than 5,000 hours of flying experience, on Monday assumed charge as new chief of the Indian Air Force, succeeding incumbent Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari.
The defence ministry said 98 per cent of the total procurement worth Rs 2.23 lakh crore will be sourced from the domestic industries.
The pilot ejected safely and a court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, the IAF said in a brief statement.
The Mark-1A will be more sophisticated and capable than the Tejas Mark-1.
Of the 156 choppers, 66 would be inducted by the Indian Air Force while the rest 90 would be acquired by the Indian Army.
The government on Tuesday said it has received Rs 4,353 crore as dividend tranches from seven public sector enterprises, including Coal India and PFC. Government has respectively received about Rs 575 crore and Rs 2038 crore from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd and Coal India Ltd as dividend tranches," Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted. Besides, about Rs 887 crore and Rs 653 crore have been received from Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd as dividend tranches.
The mega procurement proposal will shortly be placed before the Defence Acquisition Council, the defence ministry's top body on procurement, they said.
While the Army will be getting around 100 light utility helicopters, it is also looking at the option of taking choppers on lease to meet its requirement.
The Army is looking at procuring the LUHs and LCHs to replace its ageing fleets of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters.
The Indian Navy has appointed the first woman commanding officer in a naval ship in sync with its philosophy of 'all roles-all ranks' for female personnel, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Friday.
The Chief of Air Staff, addressing a press conference ahead of the Air Force Day on October 8, asserted that the IAF will continue to remain deployed along the frontier in the region till complete disengagement takes place in the remaining contested areas.
HAL helicopters will be equipped with an 'Obstacle Avoidance System' that warns pilots of any obstacles in their flight path.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday flew a sortie in a Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) after a fleet of the highly agile choppers was inducted into the Indian Air Force.
Navy said the landing demonstrated India's capability to design, develop, construct and operate indigenous aircraft carrier with indigenous fighter aircraft.
Before Data Patterns developed an indigenous check-out equipment, Brahmos Aerospace was paying a Russian supplier three times what it will now pay the Indian company.
It will be inducted into the IAF inventory at a ceremony in Jodhpur in presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and chief of air staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari.
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