New Delhi: With a view to increasing its strength, Indian Air Force (IAF) is expected to sign a contract for 114 fighter aircraft to meet its urgent requirement as well as induct 83 indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mark-1A and Mark-2 into service.

The final contract for 83 indigenous LCA is expected to be inked with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) before the end of the Financial Year (FY). Out of the 83 LCAs, 10 will be twin-seater version and will be used for training purpose by the IAF.

The Made in India single-engine aircraft which has been designed and being manufactured at HAL is expected to replace the MiG-21 Bison aircraft which is in the process of being phased out from service. The aircraft which is four and a half-generation has the capacity to be upgraded later and comes with mid-air refuelling, active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, electronic warfare suites and is equipped with different types of bombs, missiles and weapons.

The Indian made LCA will be part of the No. 45 Squadron ‘Flying Daggers’ based at Tamil Nadu’s Sulur Air Force Station, before moving out to another location.

“Efforts are on to deliver six LCAs in the Final Operational Configuration (FOC) by March 2020. The team from IAF is coordinating with the HAL for the fast delivery of the last four aircraft in the Initial Operational Configuration (IOC),” said a senior officer who did not want to be identified.

The IAF which is struggling with the dwindling number of fighter squadrons are focusing on the development of the LCA Mark-2 and the AMCA.

Officers who wished to remain anonymous have said that the LCA Mark-2 will come in the next decade between 2022-23.

According to the HAL executives, major assembly modules have been outsourced to several private companies including VEM Technologies, Hyderabad (Centre Fuselage), L&T, Coimbatore (Wings), DTL, Bengaluru (Front fuselage), Alphatocol, Bengaluru (Rear Fuselage), are working hard to ensure timely delivery to the customer.