The HAL Tejas is an Indian multirole light fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
General
Aircraft performance
Weight & dimensions
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The HAL Tejas is an Indian multirole light fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India’s ageing MiG-21 fighters but later became part of a general fleet modernisation programme. In 2003, the LCA was officially named “Tejas”. It is the smallest and lightest in its class of contemporary supersonic combat aircraft.
The Tejas is the second supersonic fighter developed by HAL after the HAL HF-24 Marut. The Tejas achieved initial operational clearance in 2011 and final operational clearance in 2019. The first Tejas squadron became operational in 2016, as No. 45 Squadron IAF Flying Daggers was the first to have their MiG-21s replaced with the Tejas.
The Tejas currently has three production models – Tejas Mark 1, Mark 1A and trainer variant. The IAF currently placed an order for 40 Tejas Mark 1 and 83 Tejas Mark 1A, including Tejas trainer aircraft. The IAF plans to procure 324 aircraft in all variants, including the Tejas Mark 2 currently being developed by the HAL. The Tejas Mark 2 is expected to be ready for series production by 2026–27.
As of 2016 indigenous content in the Tejas Mark 1 was 59.7% by value and 75.5% by number of line replaceable units.