New Delhi: The Tejas aircraft are currently all built and ready for delivery at HAL’s assembly hangar in Bengaluru. In total, several jets, including four in one hangar and five more in another, are completed, with one undergoing flight trials.
The core bottleneck delaying deliveries is the lack of engines. HAL is waiting on engine supplies from General Electric (GE), which has caused the delivery schedule to slip.
Recently, the third engine arrived from GE, and HAL is fitting it onto an aircraft, but more engines are still awaited.
Dr Sunil affirmed the aircraft readiness and stated that the shortfall is purely on the engine front as GE has been unable to supply the required number of F404 engines on time.
GE has assured HAL they will speed up deliveries, but the delay in engine supply is the main cause for the lag in meeting commitments to the Indian Air Force (IAF). HAL has promised to deliver 12 jets in the current fiscal year but cautions that a worst-case scenario would still allow delivery of at least 10 jets.
Apart from engine delays, HAL has also faced some minor technical challenges such as software and missile firing issues, which are expected to be resolved shortly within the month. Regarding a recent crash in Pokhran, Dr Sunil clarified it was due to maintenance issues and not a design flaw; GE provided special checks for difficult maintenance areas, and safety records remain excellent.
The dependency on foreign engine supply is seen as a strategic vulnerability for the indigenous Tejas programme. HAL and Indian aerospace leaders emphasise the need for an indigenous jet engine to remove such bottlenecks in the future. Despite external supply challenges, HAL continues to strive for production efficiency and delivery on commitments.
The current status is that Tejas jets are ready to fly pending engine arrival, with HAL closely coordinating with GE for engine shipments and aiming to fulfil the IAF’s requirements as soon as possible. The delivery timeline remains contingent on how quickly the jet engines arrive from the US supplier. HAL remains committed to the programme and to meeting as many deliveries as possible in the near term.
