The Tejas is India's indigenous light combat aircraft developed to replace the aging MiG-21 fighters. It is a tailless, delta wing design powered by a single engine. The Tejas began development in the 1980s and made its first flight in 2001. It is the smallest and lightest multi-role fighter in the world. The Tejas can carry various air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons and has a combat radius of over 1,000 km. Mass production of the Tejas is underway with the aim of inducting over 120 aircraft for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.

1. Light Combat Aircraft - TEJAS
Made In India

2. TEJAS
Tejas is a lightweight multi-role jet fighter developed by India. It
is a tailless, compound delta wing design powered by a single
engine. It came from the LCA programme, which began in the
1980s to replace India's aging MiG-21 fighters

3. The Need
Indian Aerospace Self Reliance

4. TEJAS
It is the smallest lightweight, multi-role, single-engine
tactical fighter aircraft in the world and is being developed
in single-seat fighter and twin seat trainer variants for the
Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.

5. Tejas
Frugal fuel consumption and inbuilt air refueling capability

6. Tejas
She rockets off the runway and into the air in a mere 500 meters

7. Tejas
Dimensions Weights Aircraft Performance
Wing Span 8.2 m
Take off weight
(clean)
9500 kg
Max Speed
Mach 1.6 / 1350 Kmph
(CAS)
Length 13.2 m
Take off weight
(max)
13200 kg
Max ‘g’ +8 to -3.5
Height Overall 4.4 m
Service
Ceiling
15 km

8. Tejas - Engine
F404-GE-IN20
Dimensions: Diameter 890 mm, Length 3.9 m
Weights: Max Weight 1,035 kg (2,282 lb)
Engines Performance: Thrust 9,163 kg (20,200 lb)

9. Engine Testing

10. Material

11. Weapons
The Tejas is designed to carry a veritable plethora of air to air, air to surface,
precision guided and standoff weaponry. In the air to air arena, the Tejas
carries long range beyond visual range weapons, with highly agile high off-
boresight missiles to tackle any close combat threat. A wide variety of air to
ground munitions and an extremely accurate navigation and attack system
allow it to prosecute surface targets over land or at sea with unparalleled
accuracy, giving the Tejas true multi/swing role capability.

12. The Makers
• Also many Indian Public &
private sector industries
and academic institutions.

13. Phases
Phase 1 - TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION STAGE (TD-1 & 2)
The focus in this phase was on ‘proof of concept’. It entailed the development and testing of two
technology demonstrator aircraft. These aircraft were called TD-1 and TD-2. The decision to move
forward was to be taken after the successful completion of this phase. This would be followed by the
production of additional prototype vehicles. There were teething issues during this phase and finally TD-
1 flew on 04 January 2001 with Wing Commander Rajiv Kothiyal on the controls. The significance of this
golden-day in the history of Indian aviation can be gauged by the fact that the last time an indigenous
aircraft had got airborne was almost 40 years ago on 17 June 1961.

14. Phase 2 - ADDITIONAL TESTING PHASE (PV-1, PV-2, PV-3 and PV-5)
This phase consisted of additional testing and development of systems using
Prototype Vehicles which would lead to the development of the final variant that
would join the IAF and the Indian Navy. The first Prototype Vehicle, PV-1 flew on 25
November 2003.
By 2005, the Tejas had proven itself in the testing phase and the first order for 20
Series Production aircrafts was placed. A follow on order for an additional 20 SP
aircraft was placed in 2010.
Phases

15. Timeline
1983- DRDO got permission to initiate a programme to design and develop a Light
Combat Aircraft.
1984 -GOIset up Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) as the nodal agency developing
the LCA program
1985- IAF generated Air Staff Requirements (ASR) for LCA in October 1985.
1986 - Government allocated Rs. 575 Crores for the LCA programme to develop an
indigenous power plant (engine)- Kaveri was launched at GTRE.

16. 1987- Project definition commenced in October 1987 with French aircraft major Dassault Aviation as
consultants.
1988- Project definition phase completed in September 1988.
1989- Government review committee expressed confidence in LCA programme. It was decided that the
programme will be implemented in two phases.
1990- Design of LCA was completed as a tail-less compound delta winged relaxed static stability aircraft.
Timeline

17. Phase 1 (Technology Demonstrator) was commenced to create the proof of concept.
1993 - Full funding approved from April 1993 and dev. work for phase 1 started in June.
1995 -First technology demonstrator, TD-1, rolled out on 17th November.
1997 -Multi-Mode Radar (MMR) for LCA design work started at HAL Hyderabad and LRDE.
Timeline

18. THE FIRST FLIGHT – The First Man!
2001 - The Tejas first flight took place on 04 January 2001 with Wg. Cdr. Rajiv Kothiyal
on the controls. It was a red-letter day in the history of Indian aviation. On 4th Jan was
the historic first flight of the Technology Demonstrator TD-1 marking a new era in the
aviation history of India.

19. 2002 - 6th June - TD-2 made her successful maiden flight.
2003 - Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee named LCA – "Tejas" meaning Radiance in
ancient Indian language Sanskrit.
Tejas crossed the sonic barrier for the first time
25th November - PV-1 made her successful maiden flight
Timeline

20. LCA was renamed to ‘Tejas’ in the presence of Prime
Minister A.B. Vajpayee and other eminent dignitaries
on 4 May 2003.

21. 2005 - 1st December - PV-2 made her successful maiden flight.
2006 - 1st December - PV-3 flew for the first time for 27 minutes at an altitude
of 2.5 km and at a speed of Mach 0.8. PV-3 was equipped with a more
advanced pilot interface, refined avionics and higher control law capabilities
compared with the previous versions.
Timeline

22. 2007
• 25th April - The first Limited Series Production LCA (LSP-1) made her first flight and reached a speed
of Mach 1.1 in the very first flight.
• PV-2 and PV-3 underwent sea-level trials at INS Rajali Naval Air Station, Arakkonam to study the
effects of flying at sea-level, as all earlier trials have been conducted at Bangalore which is 3,000 feet
(910 m) above sea-level. The reliability of the LCA systems under the hot and humid conditions, as
well as low level flight characteristics was tested.
• 7th September - Tejas Prototype Vehicle (PV-1) made a successful flight with two external drop tanks
of 800 Ltrs capacity.
• 25th October - Tejas PV-1 fired R-73 (CCM) missile for the first time. The trials were conducted off
the Goa coast at INS Hansa Naval Air Station.
• 11th December - LITENING targeting pod was successfully tested on Tejas PV-2.

23. 2008
28th May 2008 to 4th June 2008 - LCA Tejas prototypes PV-2 & PV-3 underwent hot weather
trials at Air Force Station, Nagpur.
16th June - Tejas second Limited Series Production LCA (LSP-2) made its first flight.
7th November - LCA Prototype Vehicle-3 made first successful night flight.
13th December - PV-3 and LSP-2 completed the high altitude test at Leh, world's highest
operational airfield.

24. 2009
22nd January - Tejas completed 1000 flights.
October - PV-3 and LSP-2 completed air-to-ground weapons delivery trials.
26th November - Two seater (Trainer) version of Tejas (PV-5) made its maiden flight
7th December - Tejas speed envelope expanded to 1350 km/h (CAS) while performing flight
flutter test in a dive to near sea level. These tests were conducted at INS Hansa, Goa.

25. 2010
6th June - TD-2 made her successful maiden flight.
23rd April - LCA Tejas LSP-3 made maiden flight. LSP-3 is close to the final configuration including the new
air-data computers, Hybrid Multi Mode Radar, new communication and navigation equipment and
radar warning receiver. With this the LCA program me has completed 1350 test flights logging about
800 flying hours.
2nd June - LCA Tejas LSP-4 made successful maiden Flight. In addition to the LSP-3 standard of preparation,
the aircraft also flew with the Countermeasure Dispensing System.
19 November - LCA Tejas LSP-5 made successful maiden Flight.

26. 2011
10th January - Certification for the Release to Service.
2012
9th March - The Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, LSP-7 accomplished its maiden flight from HAL
airport on 9th March 2012
29th April - The Naval version of the Indian Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, made its maiden flight
from the HAL airport in Bangalore. This was a significant milestone in the history of Indian
Aviation in designing a naval variant of a fighter aircraft.

27. 2013
22nd February - The LCA took part in the
Iron Fist Exercise in Pokhran, Jaisalmer
31st March - The Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, LSP-8 accomplished its maiden flight from HAL airport.
20th Decemeber: LCA Tejas inducted into the Indian Air Force
Indian Defense Minister Mr. A.K. Antony handed over the "Release to Service Document" of the
country’s own Light Combat Aircraft to The Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne.

28. Tejas has an Advanced Radar
The coherent pulse-Doppler Multi Mode Radar is designed to operate equally effectively in
the Air to Air and Air to Surface domains. Jointly developed as an Indian – Israeli venture, it
features multi-target Air to Air Track, Hi Resolution Synthetic Aperture Mapping and
specialized Air to Sea modes. The radar facilitates all weather employment of a variety of
Air to Air and Air to Surface Weaponry, and is the primary targeting sensor on the Tejas.

29. You know that, no… To train is costly, not to train is costlier?
The 2-Seater Tejas ‘Trainer Variant’

30. I Know u’r looking for it … A Comparison
between Tejas and JF17 of Pakistan/China
Technical Specs LCA Tejas (MK1) JF-17 (Pakistan/China)
Crew 1 in Combat & 2 in Trainer 1 only
Length 13.20 m (43 ft 4 in) 14.0 m (45.9 ft)
Wingspan 8.20 m (26 ft 11 in) 9.45 m - including 2 wingtip missiles 31 ft
Height 4.40 m (14 ft 9 in) 4.77 m (15 ft 8 in)
Wing area 38.4 m² (413 ft²) 24.4 m² (263 ft²)
Empty weight 6,560 kg (14,460 lb) 6,411 kg (14,134 lb)
Loaded weight 10,500 kg (23,100 lb) 9,100 kg (20,062 lb)
Max takeoff weight 13,300 kg (29,540 lb) 12,700 kg (28,000 lb)
Powerplant 1 × General Electric F404-GE-IN20 turbofan 1 × Klimov RD-93 or WS-13 turbofan
Dry thrust 53.9 kN (11,250 lbf) 49.4 kN /51.2 kN (11,106 lbf / 11,510 lbf)
Thrust with afterburner 85 kN (19,000 lbf) 84.4 kN/86.36 kN (18,973 lbf / 19,391 lbf)
G-limit +8 to -3.5 g +8.5 g
Internal Fuel Capacity 2,458 kg 2300 kg (5,130 lb)
Maximum speed
Mach 1.8 (2,376+ km/h at high altitude) at
15,000 m Mach 1.8(1,191 knots, 2,205 km/h)
Ferry range Range: 3,000 km (1,840 mi) without refueling 3,480 km (1,880 NM = 2,160 mi)
Service ceiling 15,250 m (50,000 ft 16,920 m (55,500 ft)
Thrust/weight 0.91 0.95
Other Features Wing loading: 221.4 kg/m² (45.35 lb/ft²) Combat radius: 1,352 km (840 mi)
External fuel capacity: 2x 1,200 lit drop tank at
inboard, 1x 725 litre drop tank under fuselage

31. Cost
• LCA Program cost is US$1.2 billion
• Unit cost of Tejas is Rs 162 Crores (US$27 million) (Mark I)
• The Sukhoi-30MKI, a heavier and, therefore, more expensive fighter that HAL builds in
Nashik, currently costs the IAF more than Rs 400 crore ($65 million) each.
• The Rafale medium multi-role fighter, which is currently being negotiated with Dassault,
could cost between Rs 750 crore and Rs 850 crore ($120-140 million) each.

32. Thanks & Jai Hind!!
SLEEP well my MOTHER... SLEEP well my FATHER...,another beautiful dawn is on its way
SLEEP well my SISTER...SLEEP well my BROTHER...,there are still stars in the sky
SLEEP well my DAUGHTER...SLEEP well my SON...,may all your dreams be sweet
SLEEP well my MOTHERLAND..when i watch over u form far above
I WILL LET NOTHING COME BETWEEN ME AND ALL THAT I LOVE!!!
- "Guardians of the Skies" - Indian Air Force

33. Sources
• http://www.tejas.gov.in/
• http://indianairforce.nic.in/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_Tejas
• http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/hal-pegs-
price-of-tejas-fighter-at-rs-162-crore-114011100829_1.html
Compiled by Sandeep Sahoo, Bhilai