Development delays have affected India’s ambitious push into next-generation fighter technology with the much-anticipated Tejas MkII fighter jet. However, new information from well-known journalist Anantha Krishnan M provides a glimmer of optimism, illuminating the causes of the delays and the project’s renewed enthusiasm.
Krishnan notes that despite a delay, funding—a crucial aspect of every significant development project—arrived “finally, officially, and recently.” This delay was caused by a condition connected to the project’s approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in August 2022. The funds were only available for use following the signing of a Transfer of Technology (ToT) deal between General Electric and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the F-414 engines, which are essential to the aircraft’s performance.
With the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the F-414 engine ToT in June 2023, this bottleneck was ultimately resolved. After that, in July, the CCS approved the use of funds, and in September, the project finally got the funding it had been waiting for.
With funds streaming in, the programme is gaining traction. About 8500 of the 9500 part drawings for the aircraft construction have already been made available for production, as Krishnan points out. This is a major step forward in the foundation-building process for the Tejas MkII.
Although we regret the initial delay, there has been a favourable turn in subsequent events. The project’s future is looking more optimistic with the inflow of funds and improvements made in design and manufacturing. Tejas MkII has enormous potential to improve India’s air defence capabilities because of its improved capabilities and greater reliance on domestic technologies.
