India will become self-reliant in fighter jet manufacturing in next few years: Ex-chief designer of LCA Tejas

India will become self-reliant in manufacturing fighter jets in a few years, said Kota Harinarayana, the former programme director and chief designer of India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. Harinarayana, a Padma Shri awardee, added that the ecosystem of manufacturing an aircraft has been developed in the country.He said that India will make a series of fighter jets of all categories to address the need of the Indian Air Force (IAF) with the improvement in technology for the production of iindigenous aircraft.

“I hope that in the next few years, India will make all fighter jets required for defence and will also start exporting these to our friendly countries,” Harinarayana said.

The former director and chief designer Tejas said that the country had developed the aircraft from small- to medium-sized and unmanned aircraft.

“Time will come, not very long, India will become the exporter of defence products…the country is now procuring some of these products from Russia and France,” said the 82-year-old aviation scientist who was here to attend the convocation of a private university on Thursday.

The increased use of Tejas by the IAF has proven the significance and importance of the indigenously built aircraft, he said.

Harinarayana said that India has displayed its capabilities in the defence sector by successfully defnding against Pakistani attacks after Operation Sindoor that was launched against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The former professor at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said that the development and successful utilisation of defence products clearly showed the country’s capabilities in the operation, terming it as only the first phase.

Harinarayana also praised India’s successful trial of ‘Bhargavastra’, an indigenous, budget-friendly counter-drone system, in Gopalpur in Odisha’s Ganjam district on Wednesday.