HAL has assured the IAF that 12 Mk1A aircraft will be delivered by the end of 2025-2026.
Hindustan Aeronautics' effort to raise the annual production capacity of the light combat aircraft Tejas Mark 1A (Mk1A) from 16 to 24 jets will get a major push on Friday, when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates the third production line for the indigenous fighter at the company's Nashik facility and witnesses the maiden flight of the first jet rolled out from there.
The first Tejas Mk1A from the third line is fully assembled and has completed all pre-flight tests, HAL executives said, adding that two more aircraft are already under production at the Nashik facility.
"The second jet could be ready for its first flight by the end of December, and the third a month later," they said.
Set up within two years with an internal investment of roughly Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion), the Nashik line has an installed production capacity of eight aircraft per year.
Together with the two existing lines in Bengaluru, the new facility will provide a combined annual production capacity of 24 aircraft.
Over the decades, HAL's aircraft manufacturing division in Nashik has produced hundreds of Soviet- and Russian-origin fighters, from the MiG-21 to the Sukhoi Su-30MKI.
"After decades of licensed production of foreign-designed platforms, the facility will now also manufacture indigenous ones," the executives added.
HAL missed its original February 2024 deadline to start deliveries of the Tejas Mk1A, primarily due to delays in the arrival of F404-IN20 engines from American engine maker GE Aerospace.
GE handed over the fourth F404 engine on September 30, and HAL expects that with the supply situation stabilising, deliveries of the first Tejas Mk1A jets to the Indian Air Force can be expedited, subject to the successful completion of ongoing weapons-firing trials.
HAL has assured the IAF that 12 Mk1A aircraft will be delivered by the end of 2025-2026.
On Friday, Singh will also inaugurate the second production line for the HTT-40, the indigenous basic trainer aircraft designed and developed by HAL, at the Nashik facility.
One HTT-40 trainer has already been built at the facility and is flight-ready.
"The total planned output for the current financial year is 10 aircraft," HAL executives said.
The HTT-40 will be used for basic flight training, aerobatics, instrument flying, and close-formation exercises, with secondary roles including navigation and night-flying training.
HAL is also collaborating with private-sector partners to increase Mk1A's annual production from the current ceiling of 24 to 30 by the end of 2027.
In February, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh noted that the IAF needs to induct 35 to 40 fighters each year.
HAL's promised rate of 24 was insufficient, he said, and private participation could help deliver the additional 12 to 18 jets required.
The IAF finds itself at a critical juncture amid delayed inductions.
The retirement of the last two MiG-21 Bison squadrons in September has reduced its combat strength to 29 active fighter squadrons -- the lowest in six decades -- against a sanctioned strength of 42.
Deliveries of the first tranche of 83 Tejas Mk1A jets -- contracted for Rs 36,400 crore (Rs 364 billion) in February 2021 -- were originally scheduled to be completed by February 2028.
In September, HAL received a follow-on order for a second tranche comprising 97 Mk1A aircraft -- including 68 single-seat fighters and 29 twin-seat trainers -- at a cost exceeding Rs 62,370 crore (Rs 623.70 billion).
Deliveries under this contract are expected to commence in 2027-2028 and conclude over six years.
In total, HAL is contracted to supply 180 Mk1A aircraft across both tranches.
The IAF has already operationalised two squadrons of the earlier Tejas Mk1 variant.
The improved Mk1A variant is an indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured 4.5-generation fighter aircraft equipped with an active electronically scanned array radar, beyond-visual-range missiles, an electronic warfare suite, and air-to-air refuelling capability.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff