The HAL Tejas is an Indian single-engine multirole light fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21 fighters. In 2003, the LCA was officially named "Tejas". It is the smallest and lightest in its class of contemporary supersonic combat aircraft. The Tejas is the second supersonic fighter developed by HAL after the HAL HF-24 Marut. The Tejas achieved initial operational clearance in 2011 and final operational clearance in 2019. The first Tejas squadron became operational in 2016, as No. 45 Squadron IAF Flying Daggers was the first to have their MiG-21s replaced with the Tejas. The Tejas currently has three production models – Tejas Mark 1, Mark 1A and trainer variant. The IAF currently placed an order for 40 Tejas Mark 1 and 83 Tejas Mark 1A, including Tejas trainer aircraft. The IAF plans to procure 324 aircraft in all three variants - Mark 1, Mark 1A and the Tejas Mark 2, which is currently being developed by the HAL. The Tejas Mark 2 is expected to be ready for series production by 2026–27. As of 2016 indigenous content in the Tejas Mark 1 was 59.7% by value and 75.5% by number of line replaceable units. The design of the Tejas was finalised in 1990 – a small tailless delta wing design with inherent relaxed static stability which necessitates the need for digital FBW flight control system (control configured vehicle concept) for enhanced manoeuvrability. Kota Harinarayana was the Programme Director and Chief Designer of Tejas. In 1992, a dedicated National Control Law (CLAW) team was set up by the National Aerospace Laboratories to develop India's own state of the art FBW flight control system for the Tejas. Earlier Lockheed Martin's consultancy was utilized for the development of fly by wire flight control system. However Lockheed Martin withdrew its assistance In 1998, owing to the US embargo in response to India's second nuclear tests in that year, which delayed the programme. The Tejas is a single-engine multirole combat aircraft which has a tailless, compound delta wing design with "relaxed static stability" for enhanced manoeuvrability and agility. The Tejas is a multi-role combat aircraft and its flexibility permits it to carry out Interception, air-to-surface and anti-shipping roles in a single mission. The wind tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamics analysis have optimised the design of Tejas for minimum transonic and supersonic wave drag, as well low wing-loading. For further extensive information on the Tejas, click here.
