Air Force Tejas Mk1A: News & Discussions: 02 January 2022

[Rakesh]

Some more serial numbers...

first picture is a twin seat trainer (LT-5208) and the second is a single seat fighter (LA-5041)

https://x.com/AdithyaKM_/status/1967930242800173474 --->

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/VishnuNDTV/status/1967878089175908846 ---> The third GE-404 engine for the Tejas Mk-1A which just arrived last week. These are key to the delivery of the Mk1A to the IAF.

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/VishnuNDTV/status/1967874437065367589 ---> Not a bad day at work! Coming up - on @ndtv and #CtrlAltDefence - a no holds barred conversation with the HAL Chairman - the Tejas, it's relevance, the process of manufacture, incorporating capability. The roadmap ahead. Also saw the 3rd GE-404 engine that's just arrived.

https://x.com/MatKarma/status/1967882037295255597 ---> Dude...you are entirely too big for this craft. this is what a pilot looks like on the Tejas normally. How tall are you?

https://x.com/VishnuNDTV/status/1967883099515302035 ---> 6'2. I have flown on the Tejas. Seat adjusts.

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/rahulsinghx/status/1967837451000730077 ---> Turning to work for some fun: Inside the LCA Mk1A cockpit and with a GE F404-IN20 engine at the fighter jet's production line in Bengaluru. The aircraft & the engine are expected to dominate the defence news cycle in the coming months, and years.

[rajkumar]

Maybe it's not a conspiracy but a genuine supply chain issue. Apparently the production of CF34 engines also facing issues.

CF34 turbofan shortages emerge as factor affecting Embraer’s E175 production
https://www.flightglobal.com/engines/cf ... 89.article
11 Sept 2025

[Rakesh]

Maybe it's not a conspiracy but a genuine supply chain issue. Apparently the production of CF34 engines also facing issues.\

Saar, I posted this in the Naval Aviation thread, but posting here. Minor quibbles like supply chain issues and massive cost increases, should not affect the world's largest MIC

"...during the MMRCA 1.0 contest, the SE contest and the MRCBF contest...the gyan that was being doled out on BRF is that America is able to produce military hardware - due to economies of scale - at a significantly reduced cost vis-à-vis their Western counterparts (mainly France against whom all the angst - from the MUTUs on BRF - was directed at). The proof lies in the pudding."

[uddu]

The integration of Astra with the new Israeli Radar has failed in the first attempt. Software update and test again soon. If it fails again, Uttam need to be brought in for the first lot as well.
10+24 Tejas Mk1A & Astra Fail

[VinodTK]

^^^ Sir Jee, Did not see the news any where else. Is this person believable!!

[Bharadwaj]

^^^^ Look upthread and there is a reliable explanation in the HT article about what happened.

[uddu]

^^^ Sir Jee, Did not see the news any where else. Is this person believable!!

Yup. Little ego is there. Other than that all fine and reliable.

[uddu]

^^^^ Look upthread and there is a reliable explanation in the HT article about what happened.

is the issue with mid course guidance? Any experts in here could shed more light on the issue from the details available?
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 31857.html
“The missile integration with the aircraft is complete. The aerodynamic studies, the signalling to the missile... all that is done. The safety review board has to clear the missile software changes made by the Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory. After Astra is fired, everybody will be happy,” he said.

[Prem Kumar]

Astra-1 is the longest range AAM with the IAF today. Let that sink in!

Meteor hasn't been inducted, R-77 is relatively short-ranged and R-37 induction (if any) is miniscule

Which is why the anemic order for Astra-1 by the IAF is grating! So is the sloth of HAL to get the Astra-1 certification for Tejas-Mk1a - WTF were they doing all these years, making tall promises month after month?!

P.S: I also think that the IAF wanting to induct missiles > 200 Km range is to keep importing Rampage, Scalp, Crystal Maze, R-37, Meteor & S-400

Astra-1, Astra-2, Akash-NG are in the sub-200 Km range, So is SAAW, the G-series bombs and HSLD-Mk1. And in order to hoodwink the masses, they renamed Rampage as HSLD-Mk2

Seems like even Astra-2 is dead-on-arrival, though we have nothing better than even Astra-1 today! Astra-2, after all the trials, will get the same paltry order of 200 - 400 missiles

Only the Rudram-2 and 3, Gandhiva & Kusha will be in the > 200 Km bracket. All of them are several years away from induction, with the exception of Rudram-2. Till then, imports-galore! Then move the goalpost to > 300 Km or ask for hypersonic interception

[Amber G.]

This must be interesting to many here... please spread the word:

You may have heard stories but straight from source is gold! Tarmak media house Anantha Krishnan made a series on Tesja with Dr Kota HariNarayana

(While Dr. Kalam's leadership was indispensable, the contribution of Dr. KH was immense)


Hamara Tejas series takes off on Oct 14 with Dr Kota Harinarayana in cockpit | Thursdays with Tejas

[Aditya_V]

Astra-1 is the longest range AAM with the IAF today. Let that sink in!

With Due respect seeing Su-30 with J-10C sticker, I think it has the best range in subcontinent, the PL-15 seems to be easily jammed and the AIm-120C-5 seems to have lesser range. Astra MK-2 in numbers will be very useful along with Uttam/ Viprukshaka while Astra Mk3 is getting developed, it is always the Ist gen which takes the longest time, now we make the AESA seekers it is much better.

Remember whatever the PAF did on May 7 flopped as desperate Indian opposition with ecosystem(remember for whatever Western Media was also desperate to prove PAF superior) would have got the pics if there was any, further on the Night of 9 May to 10 May Morning- PAF did not show up Firing Amraams/ PL-15 while their airbases were being hammered- something went very wrong for the PAF on 6-7 May night.

[SRajesh]

Astra-1 is the longest range AAM with the IAF today. Let that sink in!

further on the Night of 9 May to 10 May Morning- PAF did not show up Firing Amraams/ PL-15 while their airbases were being hammered- something went very wrong for the PAF on 6-7 May night.

Adityaji
Then what is that KSA have so as to Jihadi's signing 'Attack on one is Attack on both'
They wont send soldiers and their navy is in infancy!
It has to be Airforce and air defence
What do they have in their service that can counter us??
Remember they have signed billions of dollar deals with Unkil to supply what I wonder
Is this Unkil's way of indirect suplly chain co-ordinated via CENTCOM!!

[vonkabra]

Which is why the anemic order for Astra-1 by the IAF is grating! So is the sloth of HAL to get the Astra-1 certification for Tejas

Which makes one wonder - do they even have any Astra-1's available for the Tejas Mk1A squadrons even if integration is successfully completed? With ~500 missiles ordered (and most not yet delivered), that won't even be enough to put a pair on each of our Su-30MKIs, let alone any leftovers for the Tejas squadrons. In between, we still don't know whether the MiG-29Ks will also be equipped with them.

[Rakesh]

Please post this video when it is released. Thanks.

VIDEO: https://x.com/VishnuNDTV/status/1968944415826723183 ---> TEJAS MK1A - THE INSIDE STORY

Coming up at 10pm on @ndtv - we check out the brand new Tejas Mk-1A with HAL Chairman Dr. KP Sunil - who takes all the hard questions:

• Is the Tejas still relevant in the face of Chinese 6th gen threats?
• Will the delay in GE-404 engine deliveries be resolved?
• Will we see the Tejas armed with the Meteor air to air missile?
• How long will it take to certify the Tejas Mk2 before its ready for production?
• Is the Tejas Mk2 going to get a new name since it is an entirely different class of aircraft
• Will the engine deal with GE for F-414 engines see significant technology transfer?
• The HAL Dhruv crashes in the Navy and Coast Guard - who is responsible - HAL or Coast Guard and Navy?
• The future of the Uttam radar and its integration with weapons, jammers and electronic warfare sensors.

[uddu]

https://x.com/VishnuNDTV/status/1968944415826723183 ---> TEJAS MK1A - THE INSIDE STORY

• Is the Tejas still relevant in the face of Chinese 6th gen threats?
• Will we see the Tejas armed with the Meteor air to air missile?
• The HAL Dhruv crashes in the Navy and Coast Guard - who is responsible - HAL or Coast Guard and Navy?

The Chinese operate 600+ J-10s even J-8, JH-7 after the arrival of F-22 and F-35s. Creating a Chinese Air Force equivalent in terms of stealth aircraft require patience and whole heartedly investing in indigenous capability. It's not just the money but the mindset that matters. The shortcut of imports will take us nowhere.

Do we need the Meteor or better to concentrate on Astra MK2 and MK3?

How can IN or ICG responsible for component failure? The responsibility is on HAL if those are quality control issues else if that is an issue that came up with certain usage Scenario which the Makers are learning, you cannot blame HAL for that as well. Figuring out solution and fixing the issue is the way to go forward.

The rest are all excellent questions and let's wait or the interview to air and hear what the HAL Chairman has to say.

[Bharadwaj]

Saw the interview and Uttam plus meteor confirmed for 97 batch of mk1a. Hal CMD sounded confident with things but let us wait for the Astra clearance to come through. NDTV still do not have the interview up as a separate segment on YouTube from what I can see.

[sanjayc]

[uddu]

Saw the interview and Uttam plus meteor confirmed for 97 batch of mk1a. Hal CMD sounded confident with things but let us wait for the Astra clearance to come through. NDTV still do not have the interview up as a separate segment on YouTube from what I can see.

Integrating every missile in inventory is excellent. But it must not be at the cost of delaying Astra MK2 and Mk3 for import substitute. Priority and first integration should be Astra MK2 and Mk3 followed by Meteor. Since he is mentioning it to be on the second batch of 97, there is ample time to get everything done. Also until MK2 and MK3 is fully integrated, the French will play their usual game of not sharing enough of what we want to make it happen. Cost quoted will be high during negotiations. Once MK2 and MK3 is integrated successfully, they will be behind us with the cheapest offers to integrate Meteor to Tejas and buy more at reasonable rates. Business.

[sanjayc]

Will Meteor-Armed Tejas Dominate?

* When will India finally get the Tejas Mk2?
* When will the first Tejas Mk1A fly?
* Will a Meteor-armed Tejas be a game-changer?
* Is the Uttam radar ready for the Tejas?
* Will the Astra-2 missile be a game-changer?
* Is the Tejas still relevant given China's massive stealth fighter programme?
* Will India finally get a steady supply of jet engines from General Electric?
* Should the Tejas Mk-2 get a new name?
* Why is Shiv Aroor missing from this episode?

[ashishvikas]

13th Mk1A : LA5045

https://x.com/haldilal/status/1970154614222967258

[uddu]

https://x.com/defencealerts/status/1970148964239290581 ---> The 13th series production Tejas Mk1A (LA-5045) has successfully carried out its first flight powered by Category-B GE F-404 engines from HAL’s inventory. These limited-life engines are being used to sustain production momentum until full-life F404-IN20 engines arrive from GE for induction into IAF service.

[Rakesh]

भारत की उड़ान: Tejas से AMCA तक, रक्षा में आत्मनिर्भरता की तैयारी

भारत का स्वदेशी लड़ाकू विमान 'तेजस' भारत का गौरव है, NDTV के साइंस एडिटर पल्लव बागला की हिंदुस्तान एयरोनॉटिक्स लिमिटेड (HAL) की असेंबली लाइन से ये ग्राउंड रिपोर्ट देखिए, जहां उन्होंने तेजस विमान की मेकिंग और फीचर्स पर HAL के चेयरमैन और MD, डॉ. डी. के. सुनील से बातचीत की, आप भी सुनिए.

[Khalsa]

The Mk1A just look gorgeous in primer. Somehow I am completely addicted to their photos in primer before they are given the appropriate paint job. 13 Mk1s. WOW that is almost a squadron ready to go. Bring on those GE Engines.

[sudhan]

Astra-1 is the longest range AAM with the IAF today. Let that sink in!

Meteor hasn't been inducted, R-77 is relatively short-ranged and R-37 induction (if any) is miniscule

Any idea why it has not been inducted? Delayed deliveries?

[Kartik]

^^^^ Look upthread and there is a reliable explanation in the HT article about what happened.

is the issue with mid course guidance? Any experts in here could shed more light on the issue from the details available?
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 31857.html
“The missile integration with the aircraft is complete. The aerodynamic studies, the signalling to the missile... all that is done. The safety review board has to clear the missile software changes made by the Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory. After Astra is fired, everybody will be happy,” he said.

Only the people directly involved will know what the issue was. Could be a datalink issue, since the radar has to pass target related and then guidance related data to the missile and then the missile needs to be able to pass it's position and status data back to the aircraft. The good thing is that this is being managed here in India since Astra Mk1 is our missile. If this was a foreign missile, this software change would take a lot longer.

[Kartik]

Astra-1 is the longest range AAM with the IAF today. Let that sink in!

Meteor hasn't been inducted, R-77 is relatively short-ranged and R-37 induction (if any) is miniscule

Which is why the anemic order for Astra-1 by the IAF is grating! So is the sloth of HAL to get the Astra-1 certification for Tejas-Mk1a - WTF were they doing all these years, making tall promises month after month?!

P.S: I also think that the IAF wanting to induct missiles > 200 Km range is to keep importing Rampage, Scalp, Crystal Maze, R-37, Meteor & S-400

Astra-1, Astra-2, Akash-NG are in the sub-200 Km range, So is SAAW, the G-series bombs and HSLD-Mk1. And in order to hoodwink the masses, they renamed Rampage as HSLD-Mk2

Seems like even Astra-2 is dead-on-arrival, though we have nothing better than even Astra-1 today! Astra-2, after all the trials, will get the same paltry order of 200 - 400 missiles

Only the Rudram-2 and 3, Gandhiva & Kusha will be in the > 200 Km bracket. All of them are several years away from induction, with the exception of Rudram-2. Till then, imports-galore! Then move the goalpost to > 300 Km or ask for hypersonic interception

Ok. Provide the authoritative source for this.

This nonsense about Meteor not being in IAF service has been passed around on X by certain individuals, despite the fact that Meteors were integrated as part of the Rafale F3R standard (indeed they are in service even with Greece who operate a similar std.), they were even seen flying with Meteor missiles in France during flight tests. But just because the IAF doesn't put it's Meteors on public display, this canard has started that the Rafales are not integrated with Meteor or they weren't supplied.

SIPRI, which put out the exact number of MICA missiles that India bought with both it's Mirage-2000I upgrade deal (493) and then the number of MICA missiles it bought with the Rafales (350) also stated that India bought 150 Meteors for it's 36 Rafales.

The focus is bound to shift to the Astra Mk2 given the proliferation of the PL-15E on the J-10CE and JF-17 types. In fact, the large number of MICA missiles that India bought are mostly out-ranged and unlikely to be carried in conflict given the IAF has to assume that the PAF will use it's PL-15Es in any engagement. Maybe the IAF will look to do a SAMAR like SAM for it's MICA missiles in a decade or so.

[Kartik]

Saw the interview and Uttam plus meteor confirmed for 97 batch of mk1a. Hal CMD sounded confident with things but let us wait for the Astra clearance to come through. NDTV still do not have the interview up as a separate segment on YouTube from what I can see.

Integrating every missile in inventory is excellent. But it must not be at the cost of delaying Astra MK2 and Mk3 for import substitute. Priority and first integration should be Astra MK2 and Mk3 followed by Meteor. Since he is mentioning it to be on the second batch of 97, there is ample time to get everything done. Also until MK2 and MK3 is fully integrated, the French will play their usual game of not sharing enough of what we want to make it happen. Cost quoted will be high during negotiations. Once MK2 and MK3 is integrated successfully, they will be behind us with the cheapest offers to integrate Meteor to Tejas and buy more at reasonable rates. Business.

I don't think he ever mentioned that Astra Mk2 isn't coming. In fact Vishnu is too eager and goes on to talk about how the middle pylon can carry the Astra Mk1 and then the Astra Mk2 and the HAL CMD nods.

Astra Mk2 integration will be identical to the Mk1. The difference is in the weight of the Astra Mk2 and once that testing is completed, it'll be fired and ready to be used on the combat fleet.

However, Gandiva seems to be still deep in development. Which explains the Meteor integration requirement that the IAF has raised.