Development of the Tejas Mark 2 fighter will cost Rs 10,000 crore and is expected to be completed by 2030 (Picture: the Tejas Mark 1)
By Vikas Gupta
Defence News of India, 30 Aug 22
This week, a case is to be filed with the Union Cabinet, for the granting of a financial sanction and permission to proceed with the design and development of the Tejas Mark 2 – a more capable version of the indigenous light combat Tejas Mark 1 (LCA).
“The Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will this week grant permission to the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to proceed with the design, development, testing and certification of the Tejas Mark fighter. 2″, sources in the Department of Defense said Trade standard.
The new Tejas Mark 2 fighter is expected to be deployed within two years, and its first flight will take another year, according to ADA officials. Then flight testing and certification is expected to take another five years. This means that the Tejas Mark 2 will only become operational around 2030.
It is estimated that the entire project, including the construction of a small number of prototypes for flight testing, will require a budget of Rs 10,000 crore rupees.
The initial batches of Tejas, which included 40 Tejas Mark 1 and 83 Tejas Mark 1A fighters (still under development), were developed as light fighters to replace the profusion of antiquated MiG-21 and MiG-27 light fighters from the Indian Air Force (IAF).
However, the Tejas Mark 2 variant, which is still on the drawing board, will be a larger aircraft, falling into the medium fighter category rather than the light fighter category.
Many additional capabilities that the IAF and Navy want to incorporate into the Tejas Mark 2 will increase the weight of the 14.5-ton Tejas Mark 1 by three tons, placing it in the 17.5-ton medium fighter class.
While the two squadron Tejas Mark 1s and the four squadrons Tejas Mark 1A can be considered replacements for the last of the light MiGs, the IAF now bills the Tejas Mark 2 fighters as replacements for the medium Mirage 2000 and Jaguar fighters, rather than for the soon-to-be-retired light MiGs.
Much of the Tejas Mark 2’s increased weight and size comes from a more powerful and sophisticated engine required by the IAF and Navy. They believe that the 83 kilonewtons (kN) of peak power provided by the current engine – the General Electric (GE) F-404IN20 engine – is insufficient for the sudden accelerations, steep climbs and sustained turns needed in a modern fighter.
To equip the Tejas Mark 2 with the power needed on the modern battlefield, ADA equips the Mark 2 with a GE F-414INS6 engine (hereafter F-414) which delivers 98 kN of peak power.
The Tejas engine upgrade is also essential for the LCA (Navy), which needs extra engine power to take off on only 200 meters of runway available on the deck of an aircraft carrier. The Navy required the ADA to develop a twin-engine fighter for carrier deck operations.
GE has already supplied the first F-414 engines for the Tejas Mark 2. These are housed, along with larger air intakes, in the extra fuselage space available in the enlarged Mark 2 fighter.
Besides a new engine, the internal components of the Tejas Mark 2 are being revamped, to make them more accessible and easier to maintain. The redevelopment will improve space utilization, accessibility and expedite maintenance, thereby reducing turnaround time between operational missions.
Finally, the Tejas Mark 2 will feature improved avionics that are faster, lighter and smarter than the previous generation of the Mark I. This would improve combat performance and operational safety. A key upgrade is to install a native AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar to replace the current ELTA EL/M-2032 multi-mode radar.
The transformation of the Tejas Mark 2 from a light fighter to a medium fighter took place gradually over the previous decade.
In 2009, the Tejas Mark 2 was classified as a “re-engined” version of the Tejas Mark 1, with the F-404IN engine replaced by the F-414.
During the three years it took to purchase the F-414 engine, the IAF continually demanded additional systems and improvements to existing ones. In 2014, when the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) of the Tejas Mark 2 was carried out, the aircraft’s fuselage had been lengthened by half a meter and it weighed one and a half tonnes more.
On the plus side, the Tejas Mark 2 would also be capable of carrying 4.5 tons of payload (mainly weapons and external fuel). That’s a ton more than the Tejas Mark 1’s maximum payload of 3.5 tons.
