The Tejas is like a story from an Indian soap opera rather than an aviation programme. It
is far too long and full of toughies. So why does India have such a hard time completing
military projects unlike others in the region like China and South Korea? As the Weapon
Detective, we are investigating the Tejas and the Indian national aviation adventure.
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Talking about the Tejas is very tricky. Of course, comparing the other current fighter
aircraft programmes, the result is not quite satisfactory. But, analysing the Tejas could
give us a real opportunity for understanding the factors that affect such a project.
Before we start our analysis, let's take a brief look at the programme history and the
features of the aircraft. The history of the Indian indigenous fighter
development adventure goes back to the 1950s. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, shortly HAL,
began to work on the HF-24 Marut as a Mach 2 jet fighter in 1956. However, India did
not have enough technical capability and the experienced labour force to accomplish such
a challenging project. So, the HF-24 could not meet the requirements.
The aircraft could not even reach the supersonic speed.
For this reason, in 1969, India requested the development of a new jet fighter from
HAL. The company completed design studies in 1975. After a long silence, these studies
turned into the Light Combat Aircraft Project, shortly LCA, in 1983. Changing balance in
favour of Pakistan had accelerated the works. At that time, the second generation MiG-21s
were the backbone of the Indian Air Force. But, now, the Pakistan Air Force began to
operate the four-generation F-16s. The 1982 Lebanon War had shown that the Fishbeds
did not have a chance against the Fighting Falcons.
In 1984, India established Aeronautical Development Agency to manage the LCA Programme and HAL
appointed as prime contractor. The programme was not just the development
of an indigenous fighter. All of the subsystems would also be indigenous.
India had been failed to develop a second-generation fighter.
Developing a fourth-generation one with its all subsystem was a bigger challenge. So,
India decided to acquire foreign help. For design and system integration of the aircraft,
Dassault-Breguet was preferred as a consultant. In the beginning, India had planned that the
new aircraft would perform its first flight in 1990 and become operational in 1995.
But, as usual, things didn't go as planned. In 1990, only the basic design phase was completed.
India partnered with Lockheed Martin to support developing the indigenous fly-by-wire flight
control system in 1992. The rest of the story is known. Difficulties
in the development of many subsystems caused delays. The partnerships were broken and re-established.
The Indian Air Force had to purchase Su-30 and Rafale due to the prolongation of the
project. Thus, the LCA Programme lost its priority.
Budget cuts hit the works. The design criteria defined in the 1980s lagged
behind the developing technology. Therefore, the design has been updated several times.
With each update, the schedule of the redetermined programme was extended once again. Before
the aircraft even became operational, HAL had to begin to work on the advanced variants.
Many indigenous substems development sub-programmes, such as engine and radar, were failed.
If it was not for national pride, the project would probably have been cancelled long ago.
During this problematic process, in 2003, the LCA was officially named Tejas.
The aircraft performed its first flight on January 4, 2001.
The Indian Air Force handed over the first operational Tejas in 2015.
The Tejas is a multirole fighter, which has the tailless compound delta wing design.
It is highly agile. The design provides some degree of stealth,
especially in the frontal aspect. Composite materials make up 45 per cent of the airframe
by weight and 90 per cent by surface area. Extensive use of composites also helps reducing
radar cross-section. Also, many parts of the aircraft are coated with radar-absorbent materials.
The Tejas Mk 1 variant has a hybrid version of the EL/M-2032 radar.
The first batch of 20 Tejas Mk 1A will have an improved version of the EL/M-2052 active
electronically scanned array radar. This version is developed jointly by Elta Systems and HAL.
The Indian Air Force is planning to equip the later 63 Mk 1A with domestically developed
Uttam active electronically scanned array radar.
Now, HAL is working on the Mk 2 variant. The Indian Navy abandoned its plan for acquiring
the ship-based variant of the Tejas. So, HAL began to work on a new twin-engine
fighter based on the Tejas for the Navy. The Mk 1 variant of the Tejas has a length
of 13.2 metres, a wingspan of 8.2 metres, and a height of 4.4 metres. Its wing area
is 38.4 square metres. The empty weight of the aircraft is 6,560 kilograms, while its
maximum takeoff weight is 13,500 kilograms. One 90 kiloNewton GE 404F2/J-IN20 after-burning
turbofan engine provides a maximum speed of Mach 1.6. It can climb an altitude of 16,500
metres. The aircraft can reach a range of 3,200 kilometres. The Tejas' combat radius
is 500 kilometres. The aircraft has one 23mm twin-barrel GSh-23 internal gun and eight
hardpoints. Currently, the Tejas can carry the R-73, Derby and Python-5 air-to-air missiles,
Kh-35 and Kh-59 air-to-surface missiles, as well as rocket pods and different types of
bombs. Soon, the aircraft will gain the capability
of launching the AIM-132 ASRAAM, Astra, R-77 air to air,
BrahMos-NG anti-ship, and Rudram-1 anti-radiation missiles.
Now, let's begin to analyze why the Tejas Programme has experienced such problems.
Of course, comparing the capability of the Indian aviation industry with the western
ones is unlogical. They are not in the same league.
But, China, for example, managed to develop a fourth-generation J-10 in a short time.
Also, the South Korean KF-21 Programme progresses smoothly.
What are the differences between them? First of all, founding a country is different
from a real-time strategy game. Gathering resources and doing upgrades are not enough
to build up an industry. To have an efficient industry, a country needs lots of things,
such as organizational experience, tradition, trained manpower, money, infrastructure, market,
good political relations, internal stability, and knowledge. They all take time.
These three countries have different backgrounds. China experienced a colonial period for a
short time. The fact that Beijing has a deep-rooted state
tradition makes the Chinese bureaucracy more efficient and well-organized.
Of course, we do not intend to offend the Indian people. But, if look at the facts,
throughout history, India was a name of a region, not a country.
In fact that India has a state tradition for less than a century.
Unfortunately, the long-term colonial experience caused some handicaps, which created less
effective bureaucracy and some organisational problems.
South Korea also experienced these types of handicaps.
Still, this Asian country managed to have a more efficient aviation industry. Well,
how? After the independence, India chose a more
defensive and non-aligned foreign policy due to its bad memories from colonial times.
So, the Indian people had to learn how they can build a modern nation by themselves. This
was a long and hard process. But, South Korea was built up by the USA as
a forward fort. In a possible war against communism, this newly established country
had to be strong and efficient. Thanks to growing cooperation with the West, Seoul has
levelled up quickly and easily. After the Second World War, the gigantic population
of China was always a deterrent factor for foreign invaders.
And, when the Red Dragon tested its first atomic bombs in 1964, they no longer had any
fear of invasion. Yes, India also had a gigantic population
as a deterrent factor. Yet, a big part of this population was the
Muslims. After the independence, the main threat was
Pakistan, founded by the Muslim Indians. So, a possible Pakistani victory could cause
the dissolution of India or at least the loss of a big territory.
So, while Beijing felt safe, Delhi was on edge.
India does not have the luxury of waiting. When a domestic weapon development programme
behind schedule, the Indian Armed Forces has to acquire it from a foreign source.
For this reason, many programmes have lost their priority repeatedly. This is the biggest
stalemate of the Indian defence industry. Indian domestic naval programmes are the exception.
The Pakistan Navy is not the match of the mighty Indian Navy.
So, India has patiently waited to conclude its national naval programmes instead of direct
acquisitions. China has adopted a different game. The Chinese
engineers have copied all weapon systems they can reach. Beijing did not hold back from
corporate espionage either. Some sources claim that even the J-10 Programme,
which is more successful than the Tejas, is nothing but the fruit of secret cooperation
with Israel. As a matter of fact, this aircraft highly
resembles the Lavi. This policy has levelled up the Chinese military
industry. Unlike China, India had tried to play honestly.
Delhi has always shown respect the intellectual rights and its agreements with other countries.
But, because of this honesty, the Indian defence industry has stayed slightly behind the Chinese.
As a faithful ally of the West, Seoul has grasped the necessary technology transfer.
Also, the USA permitted some minor intellectual right breaches.
South Korea has easily become one of the leading high-tech defence system producers.
India has never had such support. Also, as we mention in our T-50 Golden Eagle
video, South Korea started its aviation industry adventure by developing simpler aircraft,
and it initiated its more complex fighter works later. KAI has reached the current level
step by step. But, India started with the most compelling
ones. Before overcoming the baby steps, HAL tried to run.
China and South Korea are more industrial countries than India. Beijing and Seoul have
used their industrial infrastructures to support their defence industries.
But, India has to build up some sub-contractors first to improve its national defence industry.
China wants to change the world order. So, Beijing has an aggressive policy. To support
this policy, the Chinese defence industry has to develop systems, which compete with
Western systems. The challenge always paves the way for advancement.
In contrast, the main concern of India is to preserve the current situation. So, Delhi
does not have an aggressive motivation as Beijing has. Lack of aggression causes a slower
advancement. In the light of these differences, we can
say that the unsatisfactory performance of the Tejas Programme was inevitable. We have
to repeat ourselves that we do not intend to offend the Indian people. Of course, our
analysis is subjective to some degree and controversial. We would be happy to hear counterarguments.
The Tejas is not a bad aircraft. But, we have to admit that the programme has many setbacks.
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