Indian Air Force Aircraft

As of May 2026, HAL had built over 20 Tejas Mk1A fighters. It had delivered zero to the Air Force. The holdup wasn’t the aircraft — it was the engines. This article covers India’s Air Force aircraft programmes, from Tejas Mk1A’s stall to the fifth-generation AMCA taking shape behind it.

Two Fighter Clocks: Now vs Next

SciTech0020

17 OCT 2025

Nashik Flag-Off

First Mk1A from HAL’s 3rd line

7 MAY 2026

Zero Delivered

20+ built, engines still short

27 MAY 2026

AMCA RFP Issued

3 consortia, ₹15,000 cr phase

TARGET 2028-29

AMCA First Prototype

5 prototypes flying by 2032

Two clocks: Tejas Mk1A is stalled on engines, not design, while AMCA is only now entering its prototype-build phase.

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Timeline

• 17 October 2025: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flags off the first Tejas Mk1A from HAL’s new Nashik production line.
• 7 May 2026: HAL confirms it has still not delivered a single Tejas Mk1A to the IAF, despite more than 20 airframes built.
• 27 May 2026: The Defence Ministry issues RFPs for the AMCA fifth-generation fighter to three shortlisted consortia.
• Targeted 2028-29: AMCA’s first prototype rollout.

Must Know

• India’s Air Force fleet modernisation runs on two tracks: Tejas Mk1A, nearing induction, and AMCA, a fifth-generation stealth fighter still years from its first prototype.
• As of 7 May 2026, HAL had delivered zero Tejas Mk1A jets to the IAF, despite more than 20 airframes built.
• The bottleneck isn’t manufacturing — it’s engines. HAL had received only 6 of the GE F404-IN20 engines it needs, with 9 built aircraft still waiting on them.
• On 27 May 2026, the Defence Ministry issued RFPs for the AMCA fifth-generation fighter to three shortlisted industry consortia.

Good to Know

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off the first Tejas Mk1A from HAL’s new Nashik production line on 17 October 2025 — a symbolic milestone, not an actual delivery.
• Five Tejas Mk1A aircraft are structurally complete and ready for delivery, but still need certification of weapons, radar, and electronic warfare systems.
• None of India’s currently serving fighters — Tejas Mk-1 included — are true fifth-generation aircraft. Neither is the imported Rafale, which is generally classed 4.5-generation. Fifth-generation status needs full stealth, supercruise, sensor fusion, and network-centric operation, the bar AMCA is being built to clear.
• AMCA’s prototype phase is funded with about ₹15,000 crore, targeting five flying prototypes. The shortlisted consortia are Tata Advanced Systems, an L&T-BEL-Dynamatic group, and a Bharat Forge-BEML-Data Patterns group.
• AMCA’s first prototype rollout is targeted for 2028-29, with the full five-prototype fleet expected flying by 2032.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. As of 7 May 2026, how many Tejas Mk1A aircraft had HAL delivered to the Indian Air Force?

5

9

Zero

20

 Loading…

 

Great to Know

• Tejas Mk1A’s stall shows how one supply-chain link — a foreign-sourced engine — can hold up an otherwise complete indigenous aircraft. Manufacturing capacity isn’t the same as delivery capacity.
• Running Tejas Mk1A and AMCA in parallel is deliberate. One replaces ageing MiG-21s now. The other builds a new stealth capability for the 2030s. Neither substitutes for the other’s timeline.
• Choosing between competing industrial consortia for AMCA, rather than assigning it directly to HAL, marks a shift in how India runs big defence programmes — spreading capability-building across private industry, not just the traditional public-sector aerospace player.
• For the organisation behind India’s defence research, see SciTech0011 — DRDO. For the Army’s parallel modernisation pattern, see SciTech0019 — Indian Army Tanks and Armoured Vehicles.

Current Affairs

• On 23 July 2026, DRDO delivered India’s first indigenous Expendable Turbo Jet Engine, a 350 kg-thrust class design. This is a separate engine programme, distinct from the Tejas engine bottleneck above — it’s built for expendable, drone-class applications, not crewed fighters. (Source: PIB)
• DRDO’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) designed the engine. Hyderabad-based Azad Engineering manufactured and assembled it, then delivered it back to GTRE on 22 July 2026. (Source: PIB)

Previous Year Question

Asked as: “Consider the following aircraft: how many of the above are considered fifth generation fighter aircraft.” (UPSC CSP 2024, GS Paper I). View this question.