India-made LCA, LCH can Boost Clout in Global South: IAF Chief

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why in the News?
• About Light Combat Aircraft Programme
• About Tejas Aircraft
• About Light Combat Helicopter Programme
• About HAL Prachand
• News Summary
• What is the Global South?

Why in News?

• Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhary, recently at an event in New Delhi, said that indigenous aerospace platforms such as the Light Combat Aircraft, Light Combat Helicopter, offer competitive and reliable options for air forces of the Global South.

About Light Combat Aircraft Programme

• The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21 fighters.
• It later became part of the general fleet modernisation programme.
• In 2003, the LCA was officially named "Tejas".
• It is India's first self-made fighter jet and received the final operational clearance for induction into the air force as a fully-weaponised fighter jet in February 2019.
• It is the second supersonic fighter jet that has been developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (the first one being HAL HF-24 Marut).

About Tejas Aircraft

• Tejas has a maximum payload capacity of 4000 kg.
• It is a single pilot single-engine aircraft that has a maximum take-off weight of 13,300 kg.
• It is a fourth-generation fighter with critical operational capabilities that include –
  • Active Electronically-Scanned Array (AESA) radar,
  • Electronic Warfare (EW) suite, and
  • Capability of air-to-air refuelling (AAR).
• It can attend the maximum speed of Mach 1.8.
  • The Mach number describes the aircraft’s speed compared with the speed of sound in air, with Mach 1 equating to the speed of sound.
  • It is named after Ernst Mach, an Austrian physicist, who first devised the measurement.
• It has a general range of 850 km and a combat range of 500 km.

About Light Combat Helicopter Programme

• Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) was proposed to meet IAF’s requirement of a dedicated light helicopter for combat operations.
• It was during the 1999 Kargil war that the need was first felt for a homegrown lightweight assault helicopter that could hold precision strikes in all Indian battlefield scenarios.
• The government sanctioned the LCH project in 2006 and HAL was tasked to develop it.

About HAL Prachand

• The HAL Prachand is an Indian multi-role light attack helicopter designed and manufactured by the HAL under Project LCH.
• It made its maiden flight in 2010.
• It has been ordered by the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army.
• In 2022, the LCH was formally inducted into the IAF and was officially named "Prachand".
• By November 2022, Indian army had begun to move its LCH helicopters on LAC near the Chinese border.
• The LCH is the only attack helicopter in the world which can land and take off at an altitude of 5,000 meters with a considerable load of weapons and fuel.

News Summary

• Air Chief Marshal, recently at an event in New Delhi, said that indigenous aerospace platforms such as the Light Combat Aircraft, Light Combat Helicopter, offer competitive and reliable options for air forces of the Global South.
• Highlighting that these platforms have export potential, he said setting up joint ventures with these countries can be mutually beneficial.
• He added this could include jointly developing components, sharing production facilities, creation of regional maintenance and support hubs.
• He said there is a need to focus on capability development in global supply chains, manufacturing hubs and establishing maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities.
• He said that IAF’s increased footprint during regular training engagements with partner nations has resulted in sharing of best practices in operations and maintenance.
• He also spoke about the role played by Indian Military Advisory Teams and courses offered through Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme.
  • It has paved the way for increased cooperation by conducting training for more than 200,000 officials in both the civil and defence sector.
  • He said in the past 9 years, IAF had trained more than 5,000 foreign trainees from countries of the Global South.
• He said it is important to identify contemporary security challenges faced by India and the Global South, and terrorism, cyber threats, regional conflict and other shared concerns should be discussed on a common platform.
• He said the landscape of international relations is constantly shifting and traditional power structures are increasingly being challenged by new players.

What is the Global South?

• The term ‘Global South’ began by loosely referring to those countries that were left out of the industrialisation era.
• These countries had a conflict of ideology with the capitalist and communist countries, accentuated by the Cold War. It includes countries that are in Asia, Africa and South America.
• ‘Global South’ is just the opposite of ‘Global North’, defined essentially by an economic division between the rich and poorer countries.
• The idea of a powerful Global North and a resistant Global South was promoted by the Zapatista Revolt in Mexico, the “African Renaissance,” and the World Social Forum launched in Brazil.
• Industrial growth in Asia, and the emerging BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) group in world politics, complicated the North-South picture.

Q1) Who manufactures Sukhoi?

The Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a two-seater, twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Q2) What is the tenure of Air Chief in India?

Appointments to the office of Chief of the Air Staff are made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which is chaired by the Prime Minister of India. The term length of the Chief of the Air Staff is three years or until the age of 62 of the holder, whichever is earlier.

Source: India-made LCA, LCH can boost clout in Global South: IAF Chief | Hindu