Confident of bagging the contract to export 18 indigenously designed and manufactured Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA)to Malaysia, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL) will now set up an office in Kuala Lumpur. The public sector HAL is manufacturing Tejas.
Argentina, Australia, Egypt, USA, Indonesia, and Philippines have also shown interest in procuring the Tejas. If the contract goes through with Malaysia, it will be the first big export order of the Tejas LCA thereby showcasing India’s capability in manufacturing state of the art fighter jets and related equipment.
The HAL had submitted a proposal to Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), Malaysia during October 2021 for supply of 18 FLIT LCAs(Tejas) against a global tender issued by the Malaysian Air Force. The final winner of the tender is expected to be declared soon by Malaysian authorities. LCA Tejas stands a fair chance of selection in the bid as it meets all the parameters sought by RMAF.Giving details of setting up office in the Kuala Lumpur, the HAL said on Thursday it inked a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU)in this regard in Bengaluru on Thursday. The office in Malaysia will help HAL in tapping the new business opportunities for Fighter Lead-in Trainer (FLIT) LCA(Tejas) and other requirements of Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) like Su-30 MKM and Hawk upgrades. It will reinforce commitment of India in supporting the Malaysian Defence Forces and industry for sustainable aerospace and defence landscape in Malaysia. Further, being one of the largest producers of Russian origin Su-30 aircraft, the HAL has capabilities to extend the required support to RMAF for Su-30 MKM fleet which is facing low serviceability issues due to ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.The HAL can support RMAF for upgrading their Hawk fleet as well. Other HAL platforms like HTT-40, Do-228, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) have the potential to be inducted by RMAF in future. Considering the above factors, HAL’s office in Kuala Lumpur will take up market promotion of HAL’s range of products and services not only in Malaysia but in the entire South East Asia. The office will also contribute in increasing serviceability of existing platforms being operated by RMAF and for neighbouring Air Forces in the region. It will reinforce commitment of India in supporting the Malaysian Defence Forces and industry for sustainable aerospace and defence landscape in Malaysia, the HAL said. The HAL is now manufacturing 83 Tejas jets for the IAF after it was awarded the contract by the Indian government last year. The order is worth over `47,000 crores. The delivery will start from next year.