The Indian Navy has finally come to the conclusion that the naval Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) does not meet the requirements of a carrier-borne fighter, and has cleared the decks for the acquisition of a new fighter aircraft.

We will seek aircraft elsewhere, which can operate from the aircraft carriers.

In remarks made to the media on Friday, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Sunil Lanba said, “As far as the LCA Navy goes, there are two aircraft which are flying as technology demonstrators. The preliminary LCA Navy does not meet the carrier capability that is required by the Indian Navy. We will continue to support the DRDO and ADA in their efforts to develop a carrier-based fighter aircraft. At the same time we will seek aircraft elsewhere, which can operate from the aircraft carriers.”

Sound of Inevitability

These remarks are being seen as finally accepting the inevitable, when viewed in the context of the reassessment done by the navy of the LCA program in the past year.

The LCA has not been able to meet the carrier capability required.

In October 2015, after the Indian Air Force (IAF) announced an order in numbers for LCA aircraft, tacitly admitting it was settling for an aircraft that would fall short of the Mk2 standard, we reported, ‘Naval sources told StratPost that with the IAF interest in the development of the Mk2 now appearing uncertain, the navy would have to undertake a process to determine if they can continue to fund development of the model on their own, keeping in mind ‘already sunk costs’, their requirement number and the expectation that the model would not be ready before 2024 as well as the imperative of indigenization.’

Earlier this year, StratPost also reported on a feasibility review of the naval LCA program. We reported, ‘According to naval sources, the naval LCA is increasingly likely to now be restricted to the role of a technology demonstrator, although there has been some discussion of a possible role as a front line fighter trainer.’

In this context, the acknowledgement by the CNS of the unsuitability of the LCA for carrier operations should not cause consternation.

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Admiral Lanba further remarked on Friday, “As far as the LCA Navy and the carrier-based aircraft is concerned we need a carrier-based aircraft in the timeline of the induction of the aircraft carrier. We have the MiG-29K which operates from Vikramaditya and will operate from the IAC Vikrant. We were also hoping to operate the LCA from these two aircraft carriers. Unfortunately the LCA has not been able to meet the carrier capability required. So that is why we need an alternate aircraft now. So that is why we’re looking at alternate aircraft to operate from these two aircraft carriers.”