Former Indian Air Force Vice Chief strongly criticizes Tejas Programme
New Delhi : Former Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor has said that when India’s indigenously developed Tejas-2 Mk starts inducting into the Air Force in large numbers in the mid-2030s, its practical utility on the frontline may be limited.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the former vice chief of the Indian Air Force in an interview with foreign media has strongly criticized the indigenously developed Tejas fighter jet project.
During the interview, he was asked whether it makes sense for India to have a fourth-generation fighter jet by 2035, while China may have moved towards a sixth-generation platform and Pakistan is considering fifth-generation aircraft, to which Air Marshal Kapoor replied categorically that no, practically not at all.
According to media reports, fifth-generation fighter jets like the American F-22 and the Chinese J-20 include stealth technology, sensor fusion and the ability to place weapons inside the aircraft, which makes them difficult to detect on radar.
Sixth-generation fighter jets like China’s J-36 and J-50 take the same stealth foundation further by incorporating artificial intelligence-based autonomy, drone wingmen and the concept of system of systems, in which the fighter aircraft operates as an integrated network system rather than just a separate platform.
He said India currently does not have any fifth or sixth generation platforms, and according to some estimates, China is moving towards deploying 500 fifth-generation J-20 fighter aircraft by 2030.
