What HAL's Triple Handover Reveals About the Tejas Mk1A Bottleneck
This article looks at why Hindustan Aeronautics Limited handed over three types of aircraft on the same day in Bengaluru, yet still faces a backlog problem with the Indian Air Force's Tejas Mk1A fighter.
A Big Day in Bengaluru, With a Noticeable Gap
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited hosted a ceremony in Bengaluru with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in attendance. The Indian Air Force received two Tejas Final Operational Clearance twin-seat trainers and the first HTT-40 basic trainer. Pawan Hans took delivery of four Dhruv NG civil helicopters.
Those handovers show HAL can complete trainers and helicopters. The aircraft the Indian Air Force actually needs at scale, the Tejas Mk1A, is not ready for formal service. That gap is the real story.
Why the Mk1A Is Stuck
The Tejas Mk1A was due to begin deliveries in March 2024. That timeline slipped. According to Defence.in, HAL kept building airframes anyway, which is why 27 Mk1A airframes are now finished but waiting for engines.
The main bottleneck has been the F404 engine made by GE Aerospace. HAL's chairman and managing director told Defence.in that ten F404-IN20 engines have arrived, with twelve more promised by December 2026. The company expects to start deliveries around December 2026 and to hand over ten Tejas Mk1A fighters by March 2027.
Engines alone won't unlock the fighters. HAL says the first batch is 90 to 95 percent through integration. The remaining work includes testing the Active Electronically Scanned Array radar and the weapons systems. The fighter also has to fly with missiles attached, without firing them, to prove its structure and aerodynamics under load.
The Indian Air Force's Numbers Problem
The delay matters partly because of squadron strength. The Indian Air Force is operating about 30 fighter squadrons against an authorised strength of 42.5. The Tejas Mk1A is supposed to help close that gap.
The Indian Air Force has ordered 180 of the fighters in two batches, worth a combined ₹1.1 lakh crore. HAL says it can build around 24 Mk1A jets a year and could clear the full order in three to four years, provided engine supplies stay stable.
The 97 fighters ordered in 2025 are expected to carry much more Indian-made equipment than the first 83, including the Uttam AESA radar and the Swayam Raksha Kavach electronic warfare suite.
A Realistic Timeline or Another Revision?
Rajnath Singh has acknowledged the pressure. According to Deccan Herald, he flagged delays in the critical defence project and asked HAL to set a realistic timeline.
The triple handover is not meaningless. The HTT-40 and Dhruv programs show that HAL can get smaller, less complex aircraft out the door. The Tejas Mk1A is a different challenge because it depends on an external engine supplier and on strict weapons certification.
HAL's decision to build airframes before engines arrived kept the production line alive, but it also created a visible stockpile of jets that cannot yet fly for the Indian Air Force. The next few months will determine whether the freshly arrived engines and the final integration work turn that stockpile into the delayed fighter India needs.