HAL Tejas

Overview

The HAL Tejas (lit. 'Radiant') is an Indian single-engine, 4.5 generation, delta wing, multirole combat aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy. The aircraft made its first flight in 2001 and entered into service with the IAF in 2015. It is the smallest and lightest of the supersonic fighter jets of its generation. The aircraft was officially named as Tejas in 2003. The name means 'radiance' or 'brilliance' in Sanskrit, and continued an Indian tradition of choosing Sanskrit-language names for both domestically produced and imported combat aircraft. Tejas is the second jet powered combat aircraft developed by HAL, after the HF-24 Marut. It has two production combat variants – Mark 1 and Mark 1A apart from trainers. In 2016, the Mark 1 aircraft had an indigenous content of 59.7% by value and 75.5% by the number of line replaceable units, which was increased in the 1A variant. As of July 2025, the IAF has about 31 Mark 1 aircraft and six trainers in its inventory across two squadrons. The first squadron, No. 45 Squadron IAF (Flying Daggers) became operational in 2016 and is based at Sulur in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The second squadron, No. 18 Squadron IAF (Flying Bullets) is based at Naliya in Gujarat in Western India. The IAF has 141 combat aircraft of the Mark 1A type on order, in addition to 41 trainers. The IAF plans to procure at least 324 aircraft or 18 squadrons of Tejas in all variants, including the heavier Tejas Mark 2 which is currently being developed.