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HAL Tejas
The HAL Tejas (lit. 'Radiant') is an Indian single-engine, 4.5 generation, delta wing, multirole combat aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy. The aircraft made its first flight in 2001 and entered into service with the IAF in 2015. It is the smallest and lightest of the supersonic fighter jets of its generation.
The aircraft was officially named as Tejas in 2003. The name means 'radiance' or 'brilliance' in Sanskrit, and continued an Indian tradition of choosing Sanskrit-language names for both domestically produced and imported combat aircraft.
Tejas is the second jet powered combat aircraft developed by HAL, after the HF-24 Marut. It has two production combat variants – Mark 1 and Mark 1A apart from trainers. In 2016, the Mark 1 aircraft had an indigenous content of 59.7% by value and 75.5% by the number of line replaceable units, which was increased in the 1A variant.
As of July 2025[update], the IAF has about 31 Mark 1 aircraft and six trainers in its inventory across two squadrons. The first squadron, No. 45 Squadron IAF (Flying Daggers) became operational in 2016 and is based at Sulur in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The second squadron, No. 18 Squadron IAF (Flying Bullets) is based at Naliya in Gujarat in Western India. The IAF has 141 combat aircraft of the Mark 1A type on order, in addition to 41 trainers. The IAF plans to procure at least 324 aircraft or 18 squadrons of Tejas in all variants, including the heavier Tejas Mark 2 which is currently being developed.
The LCA programme originated in the early 1980s. In 1983, the Government of India established the LCA project with the initial goal to develop a new light combat aircraft to replace the ageing IAF fighters, especially the MiG-21 variants, which had been the mainstay of the IAF since 1963. At one point the IAF had operated as many as 874 MiG-21s. The "Long Term Re-Equipment Plan 1981" noted that most of these IAF fighters were approaching the end of their service lives by the early-1990s, and that by 1995, the IAF would be 40 percent short of the aircraft needed to fill its projected force structure requirements.
In 1984, the Government of India established Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) under the aegis of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to manage the LCA programme. The ADA was entrusted with the design and development of LCA while HAL was chosen as the principal contractor. The government's "self-reliance" goals for the LCA included the three most sophisticated and challenging systems: the Fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system, multi-mode pulse-doppler radar, and afterburning turbofan engine.
The project definition phase was commenced in October 1986 with France's Dassault-Breguet Aviation as consultant. Dassault-Breguet's expertise was mainly utilised in the design and system integration of the Tejas. In 1988, Dassault offered a hybrid fly by wire flight control system for the LCA, consisting of three digital channels and one analogue channel, with a redundant analogue channel as a back up in case the digital channels fails. But the ADA was in favour of a quadruplex digital FBW flight control system.
The design of the Tejas was finalised in 1990 as a small tailless compound delta wing design with relaxed static stability. To provide enhanced manoeuvrability it would be a control configured vehicle incorporating a digital FBW flight control system. Kota Harinarayana was the Programme Director and Chief Designer of Tejas. In 1992, a dedicated National Control Law (CLAW) team was set up by the National Aerospace Laboratories to develop India's own state of the art FBW flight control system for the Tejas. Initially Lockheed Martin's consultancy was sought. But it was terminated following a US embargo in response to India's second nuclear tests in 1998. This delayed the programme partly by about 18 months. Later India indigenously developed a quadruplex digital fly-by-wire flight control system for Tejas.
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HAL Tejas
The HAL Tejas (lit. 'Radiant') is an Indian single-engine, 4.5 generation, delta wing, multirole combat aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy. The aircraft made its first flight in 2001 and entered into service with the IAF in 2015. It is the smallest and lightest of the supersonic fighter jets of its generation.
The aircraft was officially named as Tejas in 2003. The name means 'radiance' or 'brilliance' in Sanskrit, and continued an Indian tradition of choosing Sanskrit-language names for both domestically produced and imported combat aircraft.
Tejas is the second jet powered combat aircraft developed by HAL, after the HF-24 Marut. It has two production combat variants – Mark 1 and Mark 1A apart from trainers. In 2016, the Mark 1 aircraft had an indigenous content of 59.7% by value and 75.5% by the number of line replaceable units, which was increased in the 1A variant.
As of July 2025[update], the IAF has about 31 Mark 1 aircraft and six trainers in its inventory across two squadrons. The first squadron, No. 45 Squadron IAF (Flying Daggers) became operational in 2016 and is based at Sulur in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The second squadron, No. 18 Squadron IAF (Flying Bullets) is based at Naliya in Gujarat in Western India. The IAF has 141 combat aircraft of the Mark 1A type on order, in addition to 41 trainers. The IAF plans to procure at least 324 aircraft or 18 squadrons of Tejas in all variants, including the heavier Tejas Mark 2 which is currently being developed.
The LCA programme originated in the early 1980s. In 1983, the Government of India established the LCA project with the initial goal to develop a new light combat aircraft to replace the ageing IAF fighters, especially the MiG-21 variants, which had been the mainstay of the IAF since 1963. At one point the IAF had operated as many as 874 MiG-21s. The "Long Term Re-Equipment Plan 1981" noted that most of these IAF fighters were approaching the end of their service lives by the early-1990s, and that by 1995, the IAF would be 40 percent short of the aircraft needed to fill its projected force structure requirements.
In 1984, the Government of India established Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) under the aegis of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to manage the LCA programme. The ADA was entrusted with the design and development of LCA while HAL was chosen as the principal contractor. The government's "self-reliance" goals for the LCA included the three most sophisticated and challenging systems: the Fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system, multi-mode pulse-doppler radar, and afterburning turbofan engine.
The project definition phase was commenced in October 1986 with France's Dassault-Breguet Aviation as consultant. Dassault-Breguet's expertise was mainly utilised in the design and system integration of the Tejas. In 1988, Dassault offered a hybrid fly by wire flight control system for the LCA, consisting of three digital channels and one analogue channel, with a redundant analogue channel as a back up in case the digital channels fails. But the ADA was in favour of a quadruplex digital FBW flight control system.
The design of the Tejas was finalised in 1990 as a small tailless compound delta wing design with relaxed static stability. To provide enhanced manoeuvrability it would be a control configured vehicle incorporating a digital FBW flight control system. Kota Harinarayana was the Programme Director and Chief Designer of Tejas. In 1992, a dedicated National Control Law (CLAW) team was set up by the National Aerospace Laboratories to develop India's own state of the art FBW flight control system for the Tejas. Initially Lockheed Martin's consultancy was sought. But it was terminated following a US embargo in response to India's second nuclear tests in 1998. This delayed the programme partly by about 18 months. Later India indigenously developed a quadruplex digital fly-by-wire flight control system for Tejas.
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