HAL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) CB Ananthakrishnan has acknowledged that Malaysia has not chosen his company’s Tejas fighter for its Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program despite being among the two shortlisted out of eight companies that participated. Malaysia is now expected to select the South Korean supersonic fighter KAI FA-50 for the contract, dealing a blow to HAL’s hopes.
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Venkat Mangudi [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
HAL had submitted a proposal to supply 18 Fighter Lead-in Trainer (FLIT) Tejas aircraft in response to a global tender issued by RMAF in October 2021. The Indian aerospace company had even announced plans to establish an office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to tap new business opportunities for FLIT LCA and other requirements of the RMAF like Su-30MKM and Hawk upgrades, after Tejas was shortlisted. However, the office is yet to be established.
Despite the setback of not being selected for the Malaysian contract, Ananthakrishnan remains positive about the future of the Tejas fighter. He revealed that Argentina and Egypt have shown interest in the aircraft, with Argentina having sent teams to evaluate the jet and even flying the aircraft themselves. Ananthakrishnan is optimistic that a contract with Argentina is likely to be signed, with discussions for around 15 LCAs already in progress. Meanwhile, HAL has given a proposal for around 20 aircraft to Egypt, and although they are yet to respond, further discussions will take place.
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