New Delhi. The first delivery of India’s indigenous fighter aircraft Tejas MK1A has now been pushed to 2026. The reason is the huge delay in engine supply from American company General Electric. The fifth F-404 engine is now about to reach India, but 12 engines were to be delivered by December this year, whereas only 5 have arrived. Due to non-availability of remaining engines, 10 ready-made aircraft are standing with HAL and are not being delivered.
The first flight of Tejas MK1A has been successfully conducted from Nashik on 17 October 2025. It was launched by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. But now weapons integration, flight trials and testing are left, for which it is necessary to have engines in all the aircraft. 99 F-404 engines were ordered in 2021, with delivery by 2029. But due to the company’s production line being closed for 5 years, the supply chain completely deteriorated. Now the new plan is that from 2026, 2 engines will be available every month.
Due to this delay, the Indian Air Force will have to operate older aircraft like MiG-21 for a longer period. The entire order of 83 Tejas MK1A will now be finished by 2029, i.e. 4 years late. Nevertheless HAL has increased production. 8 aircraft are being manufactured annually in Nashik and 16 in Bengaluru. The total target is 24 aircraft per year.
A new deal for 113 engines has also been signed for 97 additional Tejas MK1A in November 2025, with deliveries starting in 2027. Further Tejas MK2 will be rolled out in 2027, which will be more powerful. In the long run, work is also going on on Kaveri indigenous engine, but at present there is dependence on foreign engines only. Experts say that the delay is worrying, but due to the hard work of HAL, the program is now back on track. The Air Force will get the first Tejas MK1A batch in 2026, which will be a big step towards self-reliant India.
