The Indian Air Force (IAF) is on track to receive 83 of its long-sought after and stealthy HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft following the approval of a funding request by the Indian government.

The approval of the first order for the Mark-1A version of the jet first developed 33 years ago was given by the Defense Acquisition Council chaired by the Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar.

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The IAF will follow-up this initial order with another for the Tejas Mark-2, a more capable aircraft with a more powerful GE F-414 jet engine. Both versions of the Tejas will be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

The IAF plans to acquire 120 Tejas' while the Indian Navy has placed an order for 40 of the jets. Sources in the defense ministry said the total cost of acquiring the Tejas' will reach $7.2 billion.

The decision to procure Tejas (the Sanskrit word for "radiant") will reduce the IAF's dependence on foreign fighters such as Russia's Mikoyan MiG-21 that still accounts for most of the fighters in the IAF. It will also give a strong push to the indigenous fighter aircraft industry since the order will be the first major bulk production order for a home grown combat aircraft in decades.

The IAF initially placed an order for 20 of the Mark-1 version of Tejas that will be used as technology demonstrators. These jets were commissioned into the No. 45 Squadron Flying Daggers, a new IAF squadron, at a ceremony in Bengaluru last July.

HAL Tejas is a single-seat, single-jet engine, multi-role light fighter designed by HAL's Aeronautical Development Agency for the IAF and the IN.

Stealth features have been designed into Tejas. Its small size provides an inherent degree of visual stealth.Tejas is the smallest and lightest in its class of contemporary supersonic combat aircraft. 

As for physical stealth affecting its radar cross section, the Tejas' airframe's high usage of composites (which do not reflect radar waves) adds to its stealthiness. Other stealth inducing features are the plane's Y-duct inlet that shields the engine compressor face from radar waves, and the application of radar-absorbent material coatings to minimize its susceptibility to radar detection and tracking.

Tejas can carry up to 4,000 kg of bombs and missiles and is armed with one GSh-23 twin-barreled autocannon. The fact it requires a very short runway means Tejas "rockets off the runway and into the air in a mere 500 meters."

Its compound delta-wing configuration gives it high maneuverability. It integrates technologies such as relaxed static stability; a fly-by-wire flight control system; multi-mode radar; integrated digital avionics system and composite material structures.

TagsHAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, Indian Air Force, Tejas Mark-1A, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, stealth