According to the defence ministry, the Indian Air Force (IAF) would likely get its first home-grown combat aircraft with beyond visual range attack capability in February.

TEJAS MK-1A aircraft deliveries by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) are anticipated to start in February 2024, the ministry announced in a statement to commemorate the fighter jet’s seventh anniversary of introduction.

The 83 TEJAS MK-1A aircraft will also have an improved electronic warfare suite, an active electronically guided radar, and a beyond-visual range missile system. The defence ministry will contract these features for Rs 47,000 crore in 2021.

“The new model will be able to fire weapons at greater stand-off distances, and many of these weapons will be indigenous in nature. The percentage of indigenous materials in the TEJAS MK-1A would significantly increase, it was announced.

TEJAS is a single-engine, multi-role fighter capable of flying in dangerous airspace. The aircraft is currently being flown by two IAF squadrons, 45 Squadron and 18 Squadron, both of which are located in Sulur, and more squadrons will adopt it.

One of the military goods that India has proposed for export is its own fighter jet, and countries including Egypt, Argentina, the United States, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines have expressed interest.

43 “improvements” from the initial lot of 40 TEJAS, which the IAF had previously purchased from HAL for Rs 8,802 crore, will be made to the Mark-1A model.

In addition to having greater maintainability, the modifications include external self-protection jammers and digital radar warning receivers, for which extra infrastructure will be needed.