LCA Tejas Mk1 & Mk1A - News and discussions
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HAL set to deliver 4 Dhruv NG helicopters to Pawan Hans
The last two light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1) trainers from a 2010 contract are also finally set to be delivered to the Indian Air Force | India News
www.hindustantimes.com
The last two light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1) trainers from a 2010 contract are also finally set to be delivered to the Indian Air Force, the people said asking not to be named.
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Reason for such delay?
Were they used as tech demonstrator?
HAL set to deliver 4 Dhruv NG helicopters to Pawan Hans
The last two light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1) trainers from a 2010 contract are also finally set to be delivered to the Indian Air Force | India News
The last two light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1) trainers from a 2010 contract are also finally set to be delivered to the Indian Air Force, the people said asking not to be named.
Reason for such delay?
Were they used as tech demonstrator?
No, it's just bad planning/execution by both ADA and HAL
I don't think you can do TD with aircraft that were ordered by the forces for operational use..
What I know is that, IAF basically ordered 4 IOC trainer in 2006 and then 4 FOC trainer in 2010 but after so many delays, an IOC variant trainer made no sense, so all were to come in FOC standard.
After FOC for Mk1 was achieved in 2019, the series-production-standard (FOC) LCA trainer was still not ready for production, maybe it was the ADA, maybe HAL, I do not know.
Then in April 2023, LT5201 (first LCA trainer series-production-standard) took first flight.
They managed to handover LT5201 in Oct 2023 but HAL also said "aircraft will be subject to modifications and additions after entering IAF service". Till LT5206 they seem to have handed over the aircraft similar to how they handed over LT5201 without much issues. LT5206 was seen with No. 18 Sqn in Feb 2025.
But then for some reason LT5207 and LT5208 had issues. LT5208 only had FF on 11th Jan 2025, and apparently seems like both LT5207 and LT5208 failed to meet IAF acceptance requirements
At this point it's better they junk the Elta radar altogether and go full steam ahead with Uttam + SRK combo.
They are purposefully delaying it, to get overtime benefits.
All the issues are sorted, there is no integration faults. They are just going to work in overtime now to finish the jets and deliver by the end of fiscal year.
If they do it in a timely manner spread across the year, they wouldn't need to use overtime
Hence March 2027..
All the issues are sorted, there is no integration faults. They are just going to work in overtime now to finish the jets and deliver by the end of fiscal year.
If they do it in a timely manner spread across the year, they wouldn't need to use overtime
Hence March 2027..
Overtime for who ? and who will give that money ?
Source ? HAL chief is saying exactly opposite.
HAL eyes beginning delivery of LCA Mk-1A to Air Force by year-end | Exclusive
The Indian Air Force has placed two orders for 180 Mk-1A fighter jets worth a combined ₹1.1 lakh crore. | India News
www.hindustantimes.com
“The last-mile corrections are underway,” he told HT on Thursday. “There are a few radar issues that we need to address. Also, the final weapons integration testing is still pending. We should resolve these issues within a month or so and get the aircraft ready for delivery.”
Have facilities, skills to make fifth-gen Sukhoi-57 in India, says HAL chairman - The Tribune
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has the experience and technical skills to produce the Russian-origin fifth-generation fighter jet, Sukhoi-57, here in India, said the company’s Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Ravi K on Thursday.In an interview to The Tribune, HAL’s top executive also...
Talking about the Tejas Mark-1A, the CMD, who took over the top job on May 1, was forthright. “Currently, we have a few integration tests of missiles and radars that are yet to be completed. We are continuously working on these two parameters. So, hopefully, maybe in another couple of months, we will be able to resolve this. We are yet to achieve the last five per cent of the specifications (needed by the IAF).”
“Currently, 27 air frames of the Tejas Mark-1A are ready, 10 engines have been received from the US firm, General Electric, and a few more engines are expected by December,” he said.
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They should have worked on this a while ago. If the radar is emerging repeatedly as the bottleneck, then it begs the question - Is there an alternative that can be made available? The lack of project management expertise and risk mitigation is increasingly raising question about them being reliable when it comes to delivering FAs. It is difficult to take projections coming from such an organisation seriously, It is a listed company. If any FII or DII was a major stakeholder, it would have been subjected to a deep audit and if the results were out, an overhaul would have been started by now.
Too late now. Contract has been signed, money has been paid and radars have been produced. But they should have definitely worked on Uttam and SRK back up. Now it will be impossible to scale up Uttam production in such short time, even if desired.
However more worrisome question from this fiasco is what will HAL do with Tejas Mk2? Can we trust this incompetent organisation to produce prototypes, test and certify them and start commercial production by 2032-33? That timeline is already tight. I don’t think HAL will be able to achieve that even by 2035. IAF will be possibly taking deliveries of Mk2 in 2040s it seems, may be along side AMCA.
GoI should rather initiate involvement of private players for Mk2 program. They can set up a separate assembly line in few years and may be even participate in weapons integration and aircraft testing to expedite the process and get in hand experience.
A similar suggestion has been made on the forum a few times. However, I do not see it gaining momentum very soon. Unfortunately, the all out push from the MoD seems to be missing. It is quite baffling to be honest. I do not make light of the progress they've made in certain areas but IAF seems to be the wing that appears be getting a step-brotherly treatment. The sqdrn strength itself speaks volumes about how dire the situation happens to be.
There are multiple issues with the institutions affiliated with the IAF or departments under the IAF themselves being one. The MoD needs a rejig and it needs to be taken up soon. A thoughtless attitude that has become pervasive needs to go.
The ONLY SILVER LINING is that the production of MK1A has stabilised
Now if the remaining issues are resolved soon , we can have 2 squadrons by end of 2027
Really? you dont know how DPSUs work?
Money goes from the company to employees empowered by unions.
They intentionally delay production so that they can get overtime benefits when the deadline is FY end.
HAL is not even the full integrator these days. They have outsourced ( insourced) assembling of Tejas 1A & HTT-40 to private companies.
The delay is due to poor decisions, supply chain issues and wrong timelines given by previous HAL chiefs.
This is what Business Standard journalist said on twitter on Feb 16 2026.
Link to my post:
http://www.strategicfront.org/forums/threads/lca-tejas-mk1-mk1a-news-and-discussions.48/post-328108
When MK1A will be fully ready as per IAF requirements.
