Saturday, February 5 2005 20:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kota (Rajasthan): Indian Air Force (IAF) will soon buy 126 fighter planes and has sought inquiries from USA, France, Sweden and Russia for the same, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi said today (Feb 5, 2005).

Of the total aircraft, 66 will be AJTs of which 24 would be bought from England and remaining would be supplied by the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Tyagi told reporters in Kota.

The first AJT plane costing around Rs 150 crore would most probably arrive in the country by 2007, he said.

On the series of MIG crashes in the recent past, Tyagi said they were mere accidents and there was nothing wrong with the aircraft.

"Even I have a MIG flying record of 1000 hrs, nothing adverse happened to me. The MIGs are safe enough and no recommendation could be made to ground them," he added.