India HAL Tejas Program

[Spitfire9]

Too many approvals needed for anything to progress.

HAL chief on Tejas Mk1A - "The only thing awaited now is the approval for some software changes in the Astra missile."

Indian bureaucracy is a millstone around the neck of Indian fighter projects. If the Astra/Tejas Mk1A combination now works, the aircraft should be delivered, not languish in hangars waiting for bureaucrats to clear it for delivery. It might be the Indian way of getting things done but in reality it is a good way of not getting things done.

 

[Nilgiri]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1969663243913236991

 

[Spitfire9]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1969663243913236991

Mk2 rollout probably H1 2026?
FF probably H2 2026/H1 2027?
Testing complete 2029/2030?

I wonder where the Mk2 will be assembled. In 2030 the 2 HAL plants in Bengaluru will be busy assembling Mk1A. Nashik will be busy assembling Mk1A and possibly Su-30MKI.

Will there be a gap of a year or two between certification and start of production?