NEW DELHI: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is set to hand over the last two LCA Tejas Mk-1 twin-seat trainers to the Indian Air Force (IAF) this month, completing a 40-aircraft order a decade past the December 2016 deadline set in its final contract, even as the manufacturer is yet to deliver a single jet under the subsequent 83-aircraft Tejas Mk-1A contract signed in 2021.
The two trainers, being delivered in the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) configuration, will complete the Mk-1 order placed by the IAF in two tranches, in March 2006 and December 2010. The 40 aircraft comprise 16 single-seat fighters in the Initial Operational Clearance configuration, 16 in the FOC configuration and eight twin-seat trainers, with the trainers the last to be delivered.
The December 2010 FOC contract, worth Rs 5,989 crore when signed, had envisaged completion by 2016. Its value was revised to Rs 6,542 crore in March 2025 on account of the change in the delivery schedule.
The first trainer under the order was handed over to the IAF in October 2023. HAL had then said it would complete delivery of all eight twin-seat aircraft by March 2024, but the deadline was missed.
The completion of the Mk-1 order comes as the IAF awaits the first Tejas Mk-1As, the upgraded variant equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, improved electronic warfare and avionics systems, air-to-air refuelling capability and enhanced weapons integration.
The IAF signed the Rs 46,898-crore contract for 83 Mk-1As in February 2021, comprising 73 fighters and 10 twin-seat trainers. Deliveries were scheduled to begin in March 2024, but no aircraft from the order has so far been handed over to the service.
As reported earlier, the Mk-1A programme has been held up by delays in the supply of F404-IN20 engines by GE Aerospace, which HAL has said it is pursuing contractual penalties over. Integration of the Israeli AESA radar with the aircraft’s electronic warfare suite has also been among the issues affecting the programme.
Sources in the know said a meeting between HAL and the IAF to review the progress of the Mk-1A programme is expected to be held this month. The delay assumes significance as the IAF grapples with a persistent shortfall in its fighter squadron strength. The service has a sanctioned strength of 42.5 squadrons but operates around 29, with several legacy aircraft types also being progressively retired.
The government has meanwhile placed a second, larger order for the Mk-1A. In September last year, the defence ministry signed a Rs 62,370-crore contract with HAL for 97 aircraft, comprising 68 fighters and 29 twin-seat trainers.
The defence ministry’s annual report, issued earlier this week said that deliveries under the second order will begin in September next year and conclude by September 2033.
