IAF must keep faith with Tejas Mk 2

Tejas Mk2’s upgraded features also make it a technological and industrial bridge to India’s fifth-generation advanced medium combat aircraft effort

In late August 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) accorded full sanction to the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA)’s Tejas Mk2 fighter project with a fresh allocation of Rs 6,500 crore. Coming some nine months after the Indian Air Force (IAF) endorsed the critical design review (CDR) of the aircraft, the CCS approval was seen as a shot in the arm for the programme which could not have progressed towards prototyping, flight trials and certification with legacy allocations. However, the time taken in according to the fresh allocation and its eventual disbursement (apparently still in process), which themselves follow a tortuous CDR approval process, has meant that the first Tejas Mk2 prototype will be ‘rolled out’ only in 2024, delayed by over a year.

It is therefore essential that New Delhi does not compound these developmental delays by paring down the minimum order quantity for the Tejas Mk2, towards which recent statements by the IAF brass indicate. For this will only serve to breed disinterest in the potential supply chain for the project and negatively impact production rates. New Delhi should instead throw even greater weight behind this programme, which is a low-risk high-value proposition for the future of both India’s airpower and its aerospace industry.

If there is one lesson to learn from the Tejas Mk1 build programme, it is that separate and segregated orders only lead to a very slow rate of production, leaving Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) – the lead integrator for the Mk2 as well -- unable to both source and outsource long-lead components. Typically, international suppliers gave very little priority to HAL’s paltry purchase orders, and potential domestic suppliers baulked at making the investments needed to service the same.

Given that, the IAF’s statements till a couple of years ago -- that it had a requirement for 12 Tejas Mk2 squadrons (some 201 aircraft) -- had struck a welcome note for Indian industry since the potential order size represented sufficient economies of scale to enable better planning and faster delivery schedules. But more recent statements, including those made on the sidelines of Aero India 2023 earlier this month -- to the effect that the IAF was looking at only ‘six squadrons’ -- is likely to dampen the potential supply chain’s enthusiasm for the project which is supposed to start delivering series production units by 2028.

Worse, this would happen at a time when Western governments are stockpiling long lead-time aerospace parts and components (P&C), having learnt their lessons from the Ukraine war and pandemic-era disruptions. In fact, the need of the hour is for HAL to further reduce dependence on foreign sources and develop more domestic suppliers if it is to deliver the Tejas Mk2 at near the same peak annual rate it has programmed for the Tejas Mk1A, which is 16 units. Incidentally, the 83 Mk1A order received by HAL in 2021 has allowed it to increase the number of domestic private firms supplying Line Replacement Units (LRUs) and P&C to 410, up from the 344 achieved for the cumulative 40-unit Tejas Mk1 order. A drawdown in projected Tejas Mk2 orders would militate against the prospect of greater outsourcing by HAL, impacting the potential rate of production.

That would be a pity indeed, given that the IAF sorely needs ‘strong’ numbers of the Tejas Mk2, having adopted a ‘no war no peace’ (NWNP) doctrine and keen to achieve its sanctioned 42-squadron strength at the earliest. NWNP entails much more intensive air patrolling than before, alongside the need to implement quick upgrades in terms of new weapons, etc., to manage escalation.

In that sense, the Tejas Mk2, being an indigenous, single-engine 4.5-Gen fighter -- with lower projected operational costs than heavier twin-engined fighters in the IAF inventory -- and a platform that can be modified much faster than imported types (since design control is with India) is rather well-suited to NWNP. By inducting the Tejas Mk2, the IAF would join other major air forces that are either continuing to keep in service or inducting new-build fourth-generation single-engine fighters at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions. For instance, the USAF intends to keep F-16 variants in service till 2070, with the last F-16 currently on order not likely to be delivered before 2026.

Given its features, that are a step beyond the Mk1 baseline -- such as active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, unified electronic warfare suite, missile approach warning system, infrared search and track system, large area display, sensor fusion and networking, all of which will be sourced domestically -- the versatile Tejas Mk2 has good export potential. Some 16 countries have already shown interest in the Mk2, according to HAL and DRDO. Tapping the export demand would, of course, require the ability to build a sizeable number of aircraft annually at an economical rate, something that further strengthens the case for a much larger initial order than is being projected.

The Tejas Mk2’s upgraded features also make it a technological and industrial bridge to India’s fifth-generation advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA) effort, since the new sub-systems delineated above are a part of the latter’s repertoire, albeit with upgraded performance. While some LRUs developed for the Mk2, such as a new digital flight control computer, are making their way back into the Mk1A itself, the former will actually have much more in common with the AMCA as far as the insides are concerned. From software to indigenous actuators, to larger brakes and a new accessory gearbox, the Tejas Mk2 and AMCA will have almost 70% commonality. As such, the Tejas Mk2 will be a ‘proving cum certification’ ground for much of what will go into the AMCA. By extension, a deep and stable Tejas Mk2 supply-chain will therefore be critical to making a success of the AMCA’s build programme as well.

While India’s aeronautical R&D base is being modernised via the Tejas Mk2 through the use of 3D product model-definition techniques, its industrial methodology is also being upgraded by moving towards a modular approach in construction. As such, besides de-risking the IAF’s force posture build-up, the Tejas Mk2 will de-risk India’s next-generation combat aircraft programmes as well. The case for ordering at least 12 squadrons, if not more, of the Tejas Mk2 upfront has never been stronger.

(The writer is Chief Editor, Delhi Defence Review.)