Chinese and Indian fighter jets face off amid regional turf war
This will be the first time India’s home-made Tejas combat plane makes an appearance at a foreign air show, seeking to offer an alternative to the JF-17 Thunder built jointly by rivals China and Pakistan. The debut is being closely watched as it comes on the heels of intense Indian diplomatic manoeuvres that forced Sri Lanka to back out of a deal to buy the Chinese-Pakistani jet, putting the kibosh on the already sputtering plans to broaden JF-17’s market.
So far Myanmar and Nigeria are said to be the only ones to have bought JF-17, or FC-1 Xiaolong, as it is known in China. Following that deal in July last year, Sri Lanka was the brightest hope after Malaysia last month denied media reports it was considering buying the jet.
India’s efforts to peddle military aviation have been no less bumpy. In October, Ecuador scrapped a contract for its Dhruv military helicopters after reporting that four of the seven it had bought had crashed and the rest were grounded.
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“India is keen to demonstrate the credibility of Tejas and offer it as an alternative to the JF-17. But it’s still a work in progress, albeit in the final stages, before it enters squadron service. The air show will be an opportunity to prove its mettle,” said C. Uday Bhaskar, retired commodore and director of the Society for Policy Studies in New Delhi.
Both Tejas and JF-17 are light, low-maintenance, and cheaper alternatives to Russian and Western jets. The first Tejas prototype flew in January 2001 while the first JF-17 prototype in 2003. But their flight paths couldn’t have been more different. While JF-17 is in service and ready to be bought, Tejas has been plagued by delays. More than three decades in the making, it is yet to be inducted.