Indian Navy Giving the Carrier Based Tejas Fighter Another Chance; Prototypes to Deploy from INS Vikramaditya

Following a series of failed trials, the Indian Navy was forced to repeatedly postpone plans to deploy a carrier based variant of the HAL Tejas single engine light fighter from its planned future warships. The Air Force variant of the HAL Tejas itself, facing repeated delays over several decades, is considered only barely combat ready today - and is yet to enter mass production. Given India’s struggles to develop a basic ground based light fighter, developing a viable carrier based combat aircraft is, according to several analysts, likely to prove an insurmountable challenge in the near future. Nevertheless, the Indian Navy appears to have challenged sceptics by placing two updated naval prototypes of the Tejas under trail for ski jump launches onboard the warship INS Vikramaditya - the service’s sole serving aircraft carrier.

Indian Air Force HAL Tejas Single Engine Light Fighter

Flying prototypes of the Tejas from a carrier demonstrates that the Indian Navy still has considerable faith in the program’s potential and plans to pursue further the possibility of integrating the aircraft into its carrier air wings. The fighters will take off will full fuel tanks and two Russian R-73 short range air to air missiles. While this represents a very limited payload, it is nevertheless a considerable step forward for the program. The R-73 is one of the lightest air to air munitions fielded by the Indian armed forces, and the Tejas will be required to carry a payload many times heavier if it is to serve as a viable carrier based fighter. The missile has an engagement range of just 30km and is restricted to speeds of Mach 2.5 - less than half that of heavier longer ranged air to air missiles.

Indian Navy Carrier INS Vikramaditya

Should a navalised Tejas be accepted into service, it could serve as a lighter complement to the twin engine Russian MiG-29K onboard the NS Vikramaditya and the upcoming lighter carrier INS Vikrant. Both of these warships will use a ski jump launch system - the same as that on which the Tejas is currently being tested. The Indian Navy has also expressed interest in acquiring the Tejas for its upcoming heavier carrier, INS Vishal, which is currently in its design phase. This warship is set to deploy either the French Rafale M or American F-18E Super Hornet - most likely the latter given its far superior specifications and greater cost effectiveness. Western fighters were selected for this carrier due to Russia’s lack of experience designing fighters for a catapult assisted launch. Should the naval Tejas be developed to be compatible with a catapult launch system, it may also serve as an effective lighter complement to the heavier Western fighters - and will almost certainly come at a small fraction of their cost.