HAL · Aeronautical Development Agency
Tejas The Light Combat Aircraft
India's own. Born to dominate the skies — a single-engine, fourth-generation multirole light fighter.
India's own. Born to dominate the skies — a single-engine, fourth-generation multirole light fighter.
The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is an Indian single-engine, fourth-generation, multirole light fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) with HAL's Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. In 2003 it was officially named "Tejas."
Compact. Agile. Built for the full mission spectrum — air defence, strike and reconnaissance.
FIG. A — AIRFRAME / DELTA PLANFORMTejas, a delta-wing fighter, is built from aluminium-lithium alloys, carbon-fibre composites and titanium. Composites make up 45% of the airframe by weight and 95% by surface area. The wing skins are a single piece of carbon-fibre reinforced polymer.
FIG. B — GLASS COCKPIT / NVG-COMPATIBLENVG-compatible across the cockpit, with smart standby and fail-safe redundancy.
An NVG-compatible glass cockpit: a domestically-developed head-up display (HUD), three 5×5 in multi-function displays, two Smart Standby Display Units, and a fail-safe air-data computer with a computational-intelligence autoland system.
A helmet-mounted display keeps the head up and the airframe in the fight.
FIG. C — PROPULSION / AFTERBURNING TURBOFANPowered by the GE F404-IN20 afterburning turbofan; the future Mk1A / Mk2 moves to the more powerful GE F414. The indigenous Kaveri engine programme continues in parallel.
Compact, agile and unmistakably Indian — the Tejas in the element it was built for.
The LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Tejas is an Indian single-engine, fourth-generation, multirole light fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) with HAL's Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. It was officially named "Tejas" in 2003.
The Tejas reaches a top speed of about 2,205 km/h (Mach 1.8) at altitude.
It is powered by the GE F404-IN20 afterburning turbofan. The Mk1A and Mk2 move to the more powerful GE F414, while the indigenous Kaveri engine programme continues in parallel.
Yes. The Tejas is designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) — an indigenous Indian programme — for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
The Naval Tejas completed its first arrested landing on INS Vikramaditya on 11 January 2020 and a ski-jump take-off the next day, demonstrating carrier-capable, hands-free take-off and landing.
A tailless compound delta-wing design built from aluminium-lithium alloys, carbon-fibre composites and titanium; composites make up 45% of the airframe by weight and 95% by surface area.
India's own light combat aircraft — designed, built and proven at home.