Indian Prime Minister flies domestic fighter jet

Thủ tướng Ấn Độ lái máy bay chiến đấu nội địa - 1 — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the cockpit of a Tejas fighter jet on November 25 (Photo: Twitter).

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a flight in a two-seater Tejas trainer fighter in the southern city of Bengaluru, while visiting the premises of defence company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on November 25.

Prime Minister Modi described the flight as "a significant boost to the confidence in the country's self-production capabilities and leaves me with a renewed sense of pride and optimism about the nation's potential".

The Tejas multirole fighter is designed to replace India's aging MiG-21 fleet, which has been the backbone of the air force for decades.

Along with developing the Tejas Mark 1 and Mark 2 fighters, India is also working on a fifth-generation fighter to rival the US F-35, dubbed the HAL Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

Indian Prime Minister flies domestic fighter jet

Prime Minister Modi has made indigenous arms manufacturing one of the core goals of his government.

India’s Defense Acquisition Council in September approved nine proposals for equipment worth a total of 450 billion rupees ($5.41 billion) from domestic manufacturers. The package includes the purchase of 12 Russian-designed Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter jets to be built by HAL.

Currently, India is the world's largest arms importer and imports 54% of its weapons and military equipment from Russia.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, HAL is also set to begin a joint design and development of helicopter engines with French company Safran, and is negotiating a joint venture agreement for the production of fighter jet engines with US company GE Aerospace.

The company is likely to win more contracts in the coming period as New Delhi looks to buy more fighter jets and light combat helicopters as well as upgrade India's existing fleet of Sukhoi-30 multirole aircraft.

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