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Why India's HAL Tejas Fighter Jet Matters

The Tejas is not an amazing aircraft. But it gave India the seeds of an indigenous defense industry capable of taking on more complex aerospace programs in the future. The HAL Tejas is India's first ever domestically developed supersonic combat aircraft, marking a variety of significant milestones from political to industrial to aerospace performance. Designed as a light, single-engine multirole fighter, the Tejas emphasizes agility, low weight, and modern avionics rather than size or power. With a delta wing and relaxed static-stability design, the Tejas is dependent upon a fly-by-wire digital flight control system, giving the aircraft responsive handling and high instantaneous maneuverability -- valuable for pilots in close-in air combat situations. Constructed extensively with composite materials, the Tejas keeps weight down and the radar cross-section modest. And with a respectable avionics suite, which has been incrementally upgraded across variants, the Tejas offers India a respectable modern option at an affordable price -- if not a fifth-generation juggernaut. The HAL Tejas' Specifications * Year Introduced: 2016 * Number Built: ~40-60 (Mk1/Mk1A; more on order) * Length: 43 ft 4 in (13.2 m) * Wingspan: 26 ft 11 in (8.2 m) * Weight: * Engine: One GE F404-GE-IN20 afterburning turbofan (~84 kN thrust with afterburner) * Top Speed: ~1,380 mph (2,220 km/h); Mach 1.8 at altitude * Combat Radius: ~500-800 km (300-500 mi) * Service Ceiling: ~50,000 ft (15,000 m) * Loadout: One 23mm internal cannon; 8 hardpoints; ~7,700 lb (3,500 kg) total payload capacity * Aircrew: 1 (2 on trainer variant) The Tejas Is Emblematic of India's Flight Aspirations The Tejas fighter is light and nimble, accelerating and maneuvering admirably for its class with crisp pitch response and predictable behavior at high angles of attack thanks to its fly-by-wire system. The single-engine layout also keeps the airframe compact and economical, though it comes at the expense of redundancy, requiring engine reliability and careful mission planning. The single engine also keeps costs down, giving India a cost-efficient option for routine patrols and strike tasks. The Tejas is also optimized for quick sorties from austere airfields, capable of short-field or dispersed-operations. More important than the Tejas's flight characteristics, perhaps, are its industrial implications. For decades, India was dependent upon foreign airframes, engines, and avionics. The Tejas marks a significant break from foreign dependency, which forced domestic ecosystems to design, test, and certify complex flight systems. The break is not total, as the Tejas still relies on certain foreign components -- notably its engines, which are manufactured by General Electric in the United States. Still, the indigenization process created the human capital -- engineers, test pilots, suppliers, and so on -- that India can now rely on for more sophisticated aircraft moving forward. And while the Tejas is not a groundbreaking platform, it paves the way for new, more ambitious platforms in the future, such as the upcoming fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). Operationally, the Tejas fills a flexible middle tier, well-suited for air-defense patrols, interdiction, close air support, and maritime strikes in the littorals. Economically, the Tejas's lower acquisition and life-cycle costs relative to imported Western jets allow procurement in larger numbers, which is important for maintaining deterrent mass and replacing older fleets. Accordingly, the Tejas role is both tactical and strategic. The Tejas Fighter's Limitations The Tejas is not a fifth-generation fighter. The aircraft's payload and internal fuel capacity are constrained. And the aircraft's survivability in contested airspace, particularly against a sophisticated rival like China, would be low. Accordingly, India has supplemented the Tejas with a tapestry of Russian and Western aircraft, including Russian Su-30MKIs and French Rafales. In short, despite the success of the Tejas, India is far from fully independent with respect to meeting its own aerospace needs. Still, the Tejas offers meaningful progress in the form of institutionalizing aerospace development capabilities. The jet gives India an operationally useful, cost-effective combat aircraft. And more importantly, the Tejas program gave India the seeds of an indigenous defense industrial base capable of taking on more complex aerospace programs in the future. For an emerging power intent on creating its own strategic autonomy, the Tejas, limitations and all, is an invaluable milestone. About the Author: Harrison Kass Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer at The National Interest. Kass is an attorney and former political candidate who joined the US Air Force as a pilot trainee before being medically discharged. He focuses on military strategy, aerospace, and global security affairs. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master's in Global Journalism and International Relations from NYU. Image: Shutterstock / Joe Ravi.

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