Indias jet-lagged fighter fleet

On October 17, about 800 folks of The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) gathered at Nashik in Maharashtra. They sat flanking the runway of HAL’s facility, witness to the maiden flight of the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Mk1A. There, they watched three plane roar into the sky: a coach on which pilots be taught, a Russia-origin Sukhoi Su-30, and the brand new Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Mk1A. After some manoeuvres within the sky, the plane landed, and the Tejas was ‘christened’: Two fireplace engines stood on both aspect of the runway and saluted it with water cannons.

On September 26, 2025, over 1,300 km away at Chandigarh Air Force Station, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, India’s Chief of Air Staff, taxied onto the runway. Then in a swoosh, he and two others soared into the skies in MiG-21 Bisons, flying within the badal , or inverted-V formation. Thunderous applause erupted from greater than 1,000-odd individuals who has gathered there. Veterans, pilots, engineers, and all those that had as soon as been a part of the plane’s journey, bid it goodbye.

The farewell reached its symbolic conclusion when the commanding officers of No. 23 and No. 28 Squadrons handed over the Form 700 — the plane’s detailed logbook documenting each restore, inspection, and upkeep all through its lifetime — to Air Chief Marshal Singh, marking the official decommissioning of a fighter aircraft that had flown since 1963.

With the retirement of its final MiG-21 squadrons — No. 23 Panthers and No. 3 Cobras, which collectively operated 36 jets — the IAF has 29 fighter squadrons, in opposition to a sanctioned energy of 42. This has been the bottom for the reason that Nineteen Sixties.

The new Tejas is supposed to take the place of the now-decommissioned MiG. However, delays have resulted in a niche within the IAF, with the total Tejas fleet Mk1A solely accessible about 4 years down the road. Also, consultants say, India is producing fighter jets a few generations behind, in comparison with different international locations like China.

The MiG lag

At the MiG’s exit, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated the aircraft’s legacy would encourage the event of indigenous fighters. Brought to India in 1963, it was made right here since 1971 by HAL, with switch of know-how and data from the then-USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). The MiG was a part of virtually all India’s conflicts, from the 1971 battle with Pakistan to Kargil in 1999, after which Balakot in 2019. With 11,500 items worldwide, 872 simply in India, it wasthe largest produced fighter jet ever.

However, it additionally wanted a new-generation substitute. There have been many coverage guarantees via the a long time, for the reason that early Eighties, when India conceived of an indigenousLight Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme that may produce fighter jets to switch the getting older MiG-21. For over a decade now, successive chiefs of the Indian Air Force (IAF) have flagged the pressing want for extra fighter plane to keep up a fight edge over India’s adversaries.

At the Tejas Mk1A first flight in Nashik, HAL chairperson and managing director D.Okay. Sunil, stated, “The focus is now on producing the LCA.” However, Air Marshal Dilip Kumar Patnaik (retired), who served because the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command, says the main target must be on indigenous growth of superior medium fight plane (AMCA) and engine options have to be prime precedence.

“The LCA Mk1A is taken into account a stopgap to keep up numbers and pilot coaching. It’s a 4 to 4.5 era plane at greatest, whereas the AMCA mission faces delays and user-friendliness challenges,” he says. Plans, he provides, should account for long-term wants (50-60 years), requiring capabilities like long-range missiles and self-protection. Immediate gaps want filling, however even present choices will take 4-5 years to implement.

AMCA is India’s first indigenous fifth-generation stealth fighter, touted as the subsequent massive leap. Expected to take flight inside this decade and enter service by 2035, it represents India’s ambition to compete within the high-end aerospace area. However, as Air Chief Marshal Singh admitted, “It is a troublesome job if we take a look at the trajectory of the LCA Mk1. But this time, with better personal sector participation, timelines are achievable.”

The focus of the IAF

The first variant of the Tejas (although it was not known as that then) took its first flight check in 2001. Currently, the jet is operational with No. 45 Flying Daggers and No. 18 Flying Bullets at Sulur Air Force Station, with extra squadrons deliberate.

The upgraded Tejas Mk1A, outfitted with superior radar and enhanced maintainability, is predicted to bolster IAF’s fight functionality. However, supply delays have been a priority. In February, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh stated HAL was lagging in its schedules.

Currently, HAL receives two GE F404-IN20 engines per 30 days from GE Aerospace, which bought the contract in 2021.

There have additionally been delays from GE. If issues go based on plan, 83 Mk1A plane shall be delivered by 2029. For a further 97 Tejas jets, contract negotiations are within the closing stage with GE.

The IAF chief has underlined the urgent arithmetic of drive modernisation. “To keep a snug energy, we want two squadrons — round 30 to 40 plane — produced yearly,” he stated. “Replacement isn’t a alternative; it’s a necessity.”

The shortfall isn’t new. As far again as 2016, then IAF Chief Arup Raha had warned that the 36 Rafales, commissioned into the drive in 2020, had been insufficient and that India wanted at the least 200–250 extra fighters and a parallel indigenous manufacturing line to maintain operational readiness. Rafales are France-made multirole fighter plane, additionally not the most recent fifth era ones.

Future fight

Nearly a decade later, the warning echoes louder than ever — the numbers nonetheless haven’t matched the ambition. According to sources within the Ministry of Defence, the federal government is finalising the contract for 114 Rafale fighter jets with at the least 18 being delivered off-the-shelf as early as subsequent fiscal 12 months.

The extra superior LCA Mk2, a 4.5-generation fighter meant to switch the Mirage-2000, Jaguar, and MiG-29 fleets, remains to be in growth. Conceptualised in 2012, its first prototype has been delayed a number of instances, with that now anticipated round 2026.

Speaking at an occasion in Delhi, Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti underlined that whereas the IAF is banking on Tejas Mk2 and AMCA for the longer term, fast gaps have to be addressed. He confirmed {that a} contract for 97 extra Tejas Mk1A fighters was signed final week, supplementing the 83 already on order.

The director normal of assume tank Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS), Air Vice Marshal Anil Golani (retired) says extra superior plane are wanted. “The authorities must fast-track the procurement of multirole fighter plane. They also needs to concentrate on engine design growth via strategic partnerships, improve indigenous functionality in long-range standoff weapons, safe communication knowledge hyperlinks and counter-UAV (unmanned aerial automobile) techniques,” he says. He hopes for privatisation, to speed up progress. Now, solely HAL manufactures fighter jets.

He provides that there’s vital curiosity from numerous international locations, significantly in South America, Southeast Asia, and Africa, for India-made LCAs, as a result of the machine can combine totally different techniques. Right now although, the IAF is anticipating the supply of 12 Tejas Mk1A by March 2026.