Its assumed that In the next two years, the IAF will be left with an alarmingly low 26 squadrons of fighter aircraft against an authorisation of 42 — even if all the scheduled supplies, including of Rafale and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, are completed on time Around the same time, the Pakistan Air Force will have 25 fighter squadrons while China’s PLA Air Force is estimated to have the capacity to bear 42 squadrons against India.

While the IAF currently has 30 fighter squadrons, the number will slip to 26 in 2021 and 2022. By then, six squadrons of the old Soviet-era MIG aircraft will be decommissioned, and only one squadron of the French Rafale and another of the HAL-manufactured LCA Tejas will be additionally inducted.

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To offset the shortfall, the plan is to have 18 squadrons of LCA Tejas Mark1 and Mark2, and six squadrons of a foreign fighter aircraft for which an initial inquiry was issued last year. The number is projected to rise to 30 by 2027, with four more squadrons of LCA Tejas. The contract for these 83 LCA Tejas Mark1A is yet to be signed between the IAF and HAL. At current projections, documents show, the number of fighter squadrons will come down to 21 by 2037 and 19 by 2042. To offset the shortfall, the plan is to have 18 squadrons of LCA Tejas Mark1 and Mark2, and six squadrons of a foreign fighter aircraft for which an initial inquiry was issued last year.

However, It is scheduled to get another squadron of LCA Tejas (Final Operational Clearance version) by 2021. The Final Operational Clearance was given only on December 31, 2018. For 83 LCA Tejas Mark1A, the negotiations between IAF and HAL are expected to conclude in a couple of months. And it will be three years from the date of signing of the contract when the first Mark1A will come into service. HAL is hoping to ramp up its production line to 18 LCA Tejas annually.

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