Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) is hopeful of ramping up production of the Tejas Mk1A Light Combat Aircraft owing to increasing deliveries of the GE Aerospace F404 engine, as it also sees international demand for the Prachand light attack Helicopter.
Speaking with FlightGlobal at the company’s Paris air show chalet, HAL chairman and managing director DK Sunil says that the company expects to get 12 F404s this year, allowing the delivery of 12 single-engine Tejas Mk1As in the current financial year, which ends on 31 March 2026.
“One of the big shortcomings has been the supply of the F404,” says Sunil. “I think they have overcome their supply chain challenges and promised that this year we’ll get a dozen engines.”
In subsequent financial years, the company hopes to deliver 24 Mk1As annually.
HAL has a contract for 83 Mk1As. Sunil expects a long-awaited follow-up order for 97 examples to close this year.
The company has three production lines for the Tejas. In addition, private companies have also been contracted to produce some major fuselage assemblies and the wings. Sunil suggests that this will effectively amount to a fourth line.
He adds that originally HAL had aimed to produced 16 annually, but that this has been increased owing to the Indian air force’s urgent need for jets to fill squadrons.
The Tejas Mk1A is an important upgrade for the type. It features an active electronically scanned array radar, improved cockpit displays, a new mission computer, and other improvements. It is also easier to maintain than the previous MK1, of which 40 were produced.
“We have a far more capable computer, and we should be able to add more and more weapons as we go along,” says Sunil.
This includes the developmental Brahmos NG, a smaller version of the India-produced surface strike weapon.
Sunil also touched on the Prachand. In March, New Delhi ordered 156 examples for INR627 billion ($7.5 billion), with 80 bound for the army and 66 for the air force.
HAL has already supplied 15 Prachands to the Indian military, but these lack an anti-tank missile. The fresh 156 Prachands on contract will have better weapons capabilities, including anti-tank missile. And, following feedback from India’s military, the rotorcraft will be easier to maintain.
Sunil adds that the Prachand has received significant interest internally, especially from nations in Africa and Asia.
“The Prachand is a very agile aircraft with a very small radar cross section,” says Sunil. “It’s a very capable platform.”
