Why does the Indian Air Force need Light Combat Aircraft?

The much awaited Light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas, being developed by
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), has received its initial operational
clearance certificate and has been inducted into the Indian Air Force(IAF). The
Indian navy, too, is expected to purchase few of these aircrafts. The LCA will
be an important entity in the Indian Air Force and will enhance the Indian
Defence aviation capabilities. As we already know that the Indian Air Force is
the fourth largest air force in the world .It currently has a strength of 1,322
aircrafts, including 680 combat aircrafts and 305 helicopters, and operates a
total of 34 squadrons.
Most of the IAFs 797 fighter jets are of Soviet/Russian origin. These include
the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, Mikoyan MiG-27, Mikoyan MiG-29 as well as
the Sukhoi Su-30MKI. Moreover there are the Anglo-French SEPECAT Jaguar
and French Mirage 2000 aircraft.
The principal and most obvious goal of LCA Tejas was the development of a
suitable replacement aircraft for Indias aging MiG-21 fighters. The MiG-21
has been the mainstay of the Indian Air Force since the 1970s. The Long
Term Re-Equipment Plan 1981 noted that the MiG-21s would be approaching
the end of their service lives by the mid-1990s, and that by 1995 the IAF
would lack 40% of the aircraft needed to fill its projected force structure
requirements. The IAF had initially planned to replace the MiG-21 fleet with
HAL Tejas (LCA) aircraft by 2006 , however there was a delay and finally we
see the LCA inducted into the IAF.
The LCA programmes other main objective was to serve as the vehicle for an
across-the-board advancement of Indias domestic aerospace industry. The
value of the aerospace self-reliance initiative is not simply the production of
an aircraft, but also the building of a local industry capable of creating stateof-the-art products with commercial spin-offs for a global market. The LCA
program was intended in part to further expand and advance Indias
indigenous aerospace capabilities.
This induction of LCA Tejas into the IAF can give us some joy , however the
IAF and navy both intend to carry out some more tests and only time will tell
if LCA Tejas will actually fulfil the role it was built for to replace the aging
MiGs. A reality check reveals some serious facts about LCA Tejas . For
instance, the LCA has been in the making for 27 long years. The initial
budget was Rs 560 crore , and it has spirally increased to over Rs 15,000
crore. Also 40% of the components required for the LCA are imported,
including the most important engine. The Indian engine, named Kaveri, was a
failure and hence General Electric F414 was used.

Ironically, even as India is trying to make the LCA Tejas a state-of-the-art

fighter aircraft, few would have missed the fact that just a few days ago,
China unveiled its futuristic stealth aircraft the J-20. Indias defence
production is still in its infancy and a major shift is required if India has to
make its defence equipment comparable to the best in the world.