In an interview with Aaj Tak Bangla TV, the Indian Air Force’s Group Captain Kaushik Sinha said the Tejas has been a complete failure and is plagued with numerous issues, including newly discovered structural flaws.
According to Group Captain Kaushik Sinha, Tejas cannot be called an Indian-made fighter jet; rather, it is assembled in India with Western and Russian components. Sinha said that HAL was tasked with manufacturing an airframe, but a HAL-made airframe cannot sustain supersonic flight or handle payload weight. Poor metallurgy is behind the structural flaws, and HAL has been plagued with these quality issues since its inception.
When asked, a TV presenter, while Tejas indigenous fighter Sinha said the engine you mentioned is the American F404 engine being installed in this Tejas, French Avionics, the Israeli radar and missiles, electronics from the UK, and some Russian missiles and components, the Tejas fighter jet is somewhere a hybrid Eastern and Western jet.
Tejas is failing to meet the requirements for light aircraft, but the media is comparing it to medium-weight, very large fighter Jets such as Rafale, which is unjust, Sinha said.
If it is seen, then there is nothing new that I said. Tejas has been conceptualised since 1980, so it will be almost 45 years. So, the basic point is that if Tejas could not succeed Mk1, then politicians and the air force would start talking about Mk1A, which is out of reach for HAL.
Then we released the advanced version, Mk2, which aimed to eliminate many of the shortcomings in the initial prototype. But Mk1A can’t reach the production line. The airframe we are making, the shell we are making, our metal is failing. Our metallurgy
scientists are not able to develop the metallurgy. Which can take the pressure and can take the temperature. Why? The pressure and temperature are very high. So, what happens? The metal is failing. When the metal fails, the individual parts break. So, this is a problem, is it that we can’t make the metal?
Secondly, there is the problem of the Russian components. That is the second problem. First, is the problem with our airframe? It is not successful. It is being tried now.
The TV presenter asked about the payload and this range. Is it a light combat aircraft, meaning a very light fighter? Is this a big problem?
So it is becoming a light combat aircraft, meaning a very light fighter? Compared to heavy fighters like the Su-30 MKI or Rafale, it is becoming much lighter.
It was planned to be a light combat aircraft. Light is less than medium. We tried to make it lighter at the beginning. It can do landing fights. And if it is not carrying heavy payloads, it can perform dogfights well.
So that was one of the reasons why its range means the fuel tank is small, the range is not too long it will not be too long, it will not carry too many weapons, it is a light combat aircraft, this is the role we always decided, but Rafale, they are medium or maybe heavy fight, but we have a very good unit in our range, the plane is good, but we could not execute it so far; we can do it in the future.
The TV presenter asked whether Tejas is going somewhere. Is it getting very weak? What is its main function? So you are saying that light combat forces use it, then what is its main function? The function is patrolling the border. If we encounter an enemy, and if any fighter takes off immediately, can they engage?
Tejas was planned to be loaded with a few payloads to fight near the border until the rest of the medium-weight fighters arrived to assist Tejas.
India could still make its own engine. The engines in this fighter are American F404S. Many countries have made engines; America, the UK and France made reliable engines.
Currently, China is also trying make its engine, but is facing many issues. Why can’t India make an engine? Where is the problem in India?
We can see that reverse-engineering will be a problem because fighter engines are difficult to make and are always available from foreign sellers.
That we will see that DRDO is making these rockets, which satellites are being launched? What did they do? Initially, they did reverse engineering they learned these things by engineering. They did this thing somewhere in our HAL scientists are failing somewhere, so sincerely they didn’t try it for 50 years, so there are failures in engineering works.
“We have to go somewhere and accept that India will only make the shell, which means the upper cover. We will bring the engine from America; sometimes we will bring it from Russia; and sometimes we will bring the radar from Israel.” Sinha said.
We will only assemble it, which means India will only remain a service sector for manufacturing aircraft, Sinha elaborated.
Now, what has the present government done? It has opened the private sector, like Tata, Reliance, and Adani. The Indian Government has told them to start manufacturing engines and airframes, but everyone is making little effort to make any aircraft.
“America has made next-generation aircraft, and Europe has started making them. The question is, why did India fail? Why are we still behind Operation Sindoor? Even after seeing this, I can’t see India making it.” The TV presenter commented.
Our plan was called the AMCA Advance Medium Combat Fighter, a fifth-generation plane. Initially, it was given to HAL, but later, when the government saw that Tejas failed, HAL was unable to build Tejas for 45 years.
This is why the Indian Government decided to ask private companies to build India’s fifth-generation fighter jets, rather than HAL.
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