India HAL Tejas Program

[Gessler]

News on the Mk-2!

Maiden flight approaching for India’s Tejas Mk2 light fighter

India's Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is targeting the end of 2025 or beginning of 2026 for the first flight of the new Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) Tejas Mk2 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

www.flightglobal.com

Important excerpts:

India’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is targeting the end of 2025 or beginning of 2026 for the first flight of the new Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) Tejas Mk2 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). Speaking with FlightGlobal at the Aero India air show in Bengaluru, LCA Mk2 Project Director V. Madhusudana Rao says construction of the first prototype is underway, and that over 55% of the required parts have been manufactured.

The first prototype’s wings and forward fuselage are almost ready, with activities related to the manufacture of the centre fuselage already completed and production of the rear fuselage to commence shortly.

Rao says the ADA has six F414 INS-6 engines, which have been modified and qualified for use on prototype aircraft. He notes the complete propulsion system was integrated and tested on a ground testbed for the first time in January.

@Nilgiri

I wouldn't bet on the first flight any time before 2026, and that's speaking conservatively & assuming the rollout happens this year. But it's good to know the progress on construction of the first airframe. The iron bird method seems to be working out well so post-assembly testing would be comparatively minimal. The ongoing AeroIndia also had a fully-engineered cockpit simulator of the Mk-2:

Can't wait to see the rollout of the first prototype!

 

[Zapper]

Also, as per this report the number of Mk-2 models has been increased from 106 to ~200!

Just as well....we're gonna be needing a whole lot of 4.5 gen single-engine planes if we want to approach any conflict with a high sortie rate throughout. All those flashy Rafales, MKI-Upgrades & AMCAs are well & good, but without the backbone of single-engine jets which put up the bulk of sorties flying CAP & CAS, defending the airspace & preparing the conditions for Air Superiority & Strike platforms to come and exploit, that would truly make the difference in determining if we can maintain the Air war long enough to turn the tide.

I'm glad we never swayed from a Western engine (F404/414) on the Tejas platforms...we'd never be able to put up the required sortie rate & flight hours per year with a Russian powerplant.

Shouldn't we plan on having a backup with the Russian or French engines since US is known to choke supply if we ever remotely go against their interests! The # of jets we produce will highly be dependent on them and irrespective of MWF or AMCA's capabilities, we can only have numbers what the Americans think is right

With our dwindling squadron numbers, IAF should prioritize increasing the fleet size over sortie rate or flight hours at this point

I guess that is an important point. Unfortunately it is also an argument against using other non-western engines (eg Indian) in Indian-designed fighters. I guess that that without investing the equivalent of many billions of dollars in coming years, India will not be able to join the 3 countries capable of designing and building fast jet engines distinctly superior to Russian engines. It's a strategic choice: refuse to pay for sovereignty and you don't get it.