Better late than never” seems to have been the maxim of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as it developed the first indigenous fighter aircraft in five decades. The Tejas, as it is christened, got the initial operational clearance for the Indian Air Force on Monday. The light combat aircraft is just a step away from the final operational configurations expected in about 18 months. Under production are also naval and trainer versions of the same aircraft, which when compared to the Sukhoi 30MKI and the Mirage 2000 is considerably lighter. If all goes well, there will be 200 Tejas aircraft in service during the next decade. That it took 27 years for the Tejas to reach this stage is not something that will do those associated with the project proud. The aircraft has also not come cheap as it has already cost Rs 25,000 crore, which is five times the cost estimated initially.
Of course, the indigenous content of the Tejas does not extend to its engine, which has been sourced from General Electric Company, and the flight control system from another US company, Lockheed Martin. But that does not detract from the importance of the achievement. Generations of aeronautical engineers and scientists had to struggle against heavy odds, including bureaucratic sloth, to take the Tejas from the drawing board stage to the flying stage. They had to overcome restrictions on technology transfer which means, they often had to start from scratch. The Tejas is, no doubt, a tribute to the defence planners, who believed that a country of India’s size cannot depend on imports alone for its surging defence needs. Such a policy has paid dividends in the sense that India is now one of the few countries in the world, which has the capability not only to manufacture a combat aircraft but also fit it with indigenously developed warheads. As Chief of Air Staff P V Naik has pointed out, the IAF, as the end-user of the aircraft, has still many modifications to suggest. Given the astronomical price of a fighter aircraft, few will begrudge the cost incurred on the project. The aircraft will replace the ageing MiG-21, which every fighter pilot testifies as one of the best fighter aircraft, though its accident rate has been causing some concern. It may be a mere coincidence that India’s rejoicing over the Tejas comes a few days after China unveiled a sophisticated stealth fighter jet which is now undergoing flying tests.