The Capability Gap: Squadron Numbers And Two-Front Realities

India's aerial combat readiness faces a critical juncture as squadron numbers dip significantly below the mandated operational requirement. The national air arm presently fields only twenty-nine active fighter squadrons while the sanctioned requirement remains at forty-two operational units to ensure two-front deterrence.

The Indian Air Force currently operates around twenty-nine fighter squadrons against an authorised baseline strength of forty-two active squadrons. This growing capability gap poses acute strategic challenges for India's aerial preparedness amidst demanding regional security environments.

To mitigate this deficiency, policymakers are pushing aggressively for indigenous solutions spearheaded by domestic research laboratories and state-run production facilities.

External procurement strategies, including high-level governmental discussions surrounding additional French Rafale fighter jets, serve as crucial stopgaps while local production lines attempt to ramp up output. Additional acquisitions such as the Dassault Rafale jets are actively being evaluated to bridge the immediate numbers crunch and offset the retirement of older legacy fleets.

The Indigenous Push: TEJAS MK-1A And Manufacturing Bottlenecks

The indigenous Combat Jet Aircraft program aims to bolster domestic manufacturing capabilities through advanced variants like the TEJAS MK-1A, which features over eighty modifications.

The TEJAS light fighter platform represents a cornerstone of this domestic manufacturing drive, supplemented by ongoing orders for enhanced MK-1A variants equipped with advanced indigenous avionics and active electronically scanned array radars.

The cumulative orders for the TEJAS MK-1A now total one hundred eighty aircraft valued at approximately ₹1.1 lakh crore, including a follow-on order of ninety-seven jets signed for ₹62,370 crore.

However, persistent delivery delays from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) based in Bangalore have raised serious concerns among defence planners and military leadership. Production setbacks at manufacturing facilities located in Bangalore have unfortunately slowed down expected induction timelines, leaving the program running roughly two years behind schedule.

Propulsion Hurdles And The Quest For Self-Reliance

Concurrently, the historical and stalled Kaveri jet engine program highlights the ongoing technical difficulties in achieving complete self-reliance in high-thrust aviation propulsion technology. Recent testing milestones showing marginal dry thrust improvements indicate that indigenous powerplants still require substantial development before powering frontline combat aircraft.

Meanwhile, the indigenous Kaveri engine initiative continues to face developmental hurdles, underlining the complex technological and metallurgical challenges of modern military aerospace engineering.

Efforts to redirect the propulsion roadmap—including potential joint ventures with global aerospace firms—aim to resolve these roadblocks for future fifth-generation stealth programs. The success of upcoming domestic platforms like the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft depends heavily on resolving these industrial bottlenecks, engine delays, and supply chain constraints.

Outlook For National Security And Long-Term Supremacy

Can India successfully overcome these complex manufacturing hurdles to secure its long-term aerial supremacy and build a robust indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem? Overcoming these manufacturing delays and propulsion bottlenecks remains absolutely essential for realising future stealth programs, maintaining regional deterrence, and safeguarding national security.

Key Technical Metrics & Strategic Roadmaps

Engine Supply Bottlenecks & Recovery Trajectory

GE F404 Supply Status: The primary catalyst for the TEJAS MK-1A rollout delays stems from GE Aerospace’s supply chain bottlenecks after restarting dormant production lines. However, delivery velocity has picked up: after delivering the first unit in March 2025, GE shipped four F404-IN20 engines in September 2026 alone, bringing the total delivered to 14 units.

GE aims to deliver 20+ engines by late 2026 to help HAL clear a backlog of roughly 27 fully built airframes awaiting engine integration and radar weapon flight testing.

TEJAS MK-2 Engine Commitment: HAL and GE Aerospace signed a agreement for the local co-production of the GE F414-INS6 engine (providing ~98 kN thrust) with up to 80% Transfer of Technology (ToT), which will power both the TEJAS MK-2 medium weight fighter and early prototypes of the 5th-generation stealth platform.

Advanced High-Thrust Propulsion Roadmaps (AMCA)

110–120 kN Joint Venture: To meet stealth and supercruise requirements without relying permanently on foreign engine sources, DRDO's Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) is establishing a joint venture with France's Safran Aircraft Engines.

The proposed $1 billion project entails a 100% Transfer of Technology, including access to core "hot section" metallurgy, to co-design and co-develop a new 110–120 kN high-thrust engine for the serial production phase of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA MK-2).

Alternative Partnerships: Concurrently, UK's Rolls-Royce and India's private sector partners (including Reliance Defence and Bharat Forge) have engaged in joint initiatives to construct dedicated aero-gas turbine complexes, expanding the domestic industrial base for future combat engine capabilities.

Operational Timeline Targets

Interim Deliveries (2026–2028): The IAF expects its first operational TEJAS MK-1A squadron formation to stabilise as HAL ramps up output towards a target capacity of 24 jets per year, leveraging assembly divisions across Bangalore and Nashik.

Next-Gen Horizons (2028–2035): The 5th-generation AMCA stealth fighter program is slated for its first prototype flight around late 2028, with full serial production targeted for 2035. Resolving local engine production delays today directly safeguards these flight-test timelines.

Avionics And Radar Integration Roadmap (TEJAS MK-1A)

The Radar Transition: From Israeli EL/M-2052 To Indigenous Uttam

First Batch Strategy (Initial 83 Jets): To avoid pushing the initial delivery timelines back even further, the first batch of TEJAS MK-1A fighters utilizes imported Israeli EL/M-2052 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars alongside the ELINT/EW suite. However, software configuration and source-code integration bottlenecks involving these foreign systems have contributed heavily to the program's overall delays.

Second Batch Shift (The 97-Jet Follow-On): The transition to full domestic independence scaled up significantly when HAL awarded a ₹2,205 crore contract to Astra Microwave Products to produce core electronics and subsystems for the indigenous Uttam AESA radar. Unlike the first batch, these subsequent 97 airframes are designed to receive the Uttam radar natively from the production line rather than via a future retrofit.

Technical Performance of The Uttam AESA Radar

Tracking & Range: Developed by DRDO’s Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), the baseline solid-state Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) Uttam radar has demonstrated exceptional capability, successfully tracking medium-to-large RCS targets at ranges exceeding 240 km during test flights on TEJAS Limited Series Production (LSP) platforms.

Future Gallium Nitride (GaN) Variants: Advanced variants incorporating higher-efficiency GaN (Gallium Nitride) technology are being integrated into heavier platforms like the TEJAS MK-2 and future upgrades, offering superior thermal management, enhanced resistance to electronic jamming, and greater power scaling.

Strategic Implications For Weapon Integration

Breaking Foreign Dependencies: Relying on a completely indigenous radar architecture removes the traditional roadblocks associated with foreign proprietary source codes. This software sovereignty allows Indian defence planners to natively integrate indigenous weaponry—such as the Astra MK-1 and MK-2 Beyond-Visual-Range (BVR) air-to-air missiles—without requiring foreign OEM permission or costly interface software updates.

IDN (With Agency Inputs)