India's Tejas Production to Increase with New Nashik Factory in 2025

The Indian Air Force (IAF) may soon see a significant increase in the production of its domestically-built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1A. Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Deputy Chief of the IAF, has indicated the potential for greater production output for this advanced fighter jet.

This boost is linked to the anticipated 2025 opening of a third Tejas production plant by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Nashik. The added facility promises to enhance HAL's manufacturing capabilities. Air Marshal Dixit suggests this could lead to an increase from the current production of 16 Tejas Mk1A jets per year to as many as 24.

Growing Demand for the Tejas​

The IAF is already deeply invested in the Tejas program, having placed an order for 73 Tejas Mk1A fighters. Discussions are underway with HAL for the procurement of an additional 97 aircraft.

With this additional demand, HAL had proposed scaling production even higher, to 30 units per year. However, the IAF appears to favor a more moderate increase to 24 units annually.

According to sources, the IAF's preference stems partially from the need to train pilots on the Tejas Mk1A. A gradual increase in aircraft deliveries would allow for more seamless pilot training programs alongside the ramp-up in production.

Implications for India's Defense​

The potential opening of the Nashik production plant, coupled with the IAF's planned Tejas orders, marks a significant stride in India's indigenous fighter jet program.

This increased manufacturing capacity promises to enhance the IAF's capabilities while simultaneously strengthening India's domestic defense industry.

 

[Anant]

Okay, production line basics: A delay at the bottleneck is a delay in the output.

GE has not mentioned being capable of delivering 24 F404 engines a year anytime soon. That means that HAL has either been lying about not having enough engines to scale up production (looking at some of the comments by people on this forum), or they simply don't know the basics of production. Your pick.

 

[Pramkumar]

Must agree for Kaveri engine for MK1A

 

[Anant]

Must agree for Kaveri engine for MK1A

Considering that the afterburner section has not been integrated on the Kaveri yet, should we just wait for another decade for the Tejas Mk 1A while the afterburner is integrated and tested?

 

[BnglrTester]

Okay, production line basics: A delay at the bottleneck is a delay in the output.

GE has not mentioned being capable of delivering 24 F404 engines a year anytime soon. That means that HAL has either been lying about not having enough engines to scale up production (looking at some of the comments by people on this forum), or they simply don't know the basics of production. Your pick.

Or you may not have enough insider information.

 

[bonito]

IAF believes that current HAL's rate of production is 16 jets !! 😅🤣😆

 

[3Idiots]

IAF believes that current HAL's rate of production is 16 jets !! 😅🤣😆

You forgot to count the 12+ mockups each year. Soon, they’ll scale it up to one full squadron per year. Badly needed for defense expos for customers in South America, Africa, Southeast Asia etc.

 

[k2b2]

GE engine fast de ya na de..hame hamare taraf se jitna production adhik se adhik ho sake karte rahna cahiye... baad mai engine milte hum turat unko set kar sake..hmari assembly line agar kaam pura karke free ho jaye to AMCA production k liye fast track mode par laga sakengege.

 

[Anant]

Or you may not have enough insider information.

Boss, I can only make conclusions based in HAL's historical record and what public information there is. Based on that, HAL is always over-optimistic and over-promising. They promise the sky, but struggle to deliver peanuts at times.

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

IAF believes that current HAL's rate of production is 16 jets !! 😅🤣😆

I was wondering since when HAL started making 16 jets a year.
They have never made more than 2-3 per year. 🤣

 

[Akshat]

GE engine fast de ya na de..hame hamare taraf se jitna production adhik se adhik ho sake karte rahna cahiye... baad mai engine milte hum turat unko set kar sake..hmari assembly line agar kaam pura karke free ho jaye to AMCA production k liye fast track mode par laga sakengege.

Doesn't work that way. You can't just manufacture a hundred airframes and then fit engines as and when you get them, because engine installation is generally not the last step. There is a lot that is done afterwards as well.

Moreover, the maintenance required on incomplete airframes would push costs up significantly.

 

[AK S]

Considering that the afterburner section has not been integrated on the Kaveri yet, should we just wait for another decade for the Tejas Mk 1A while the afterburner is integrated and tested?

Kaveri is being integrated in the current form and will be certified.

But current Kaveri or even the new one with the proposed afterburner will fall short of required thrust by a good margin.Besides, it weighs few hundred kg more too. So it’s not a replacement of F404.

Though integration per se will not take a decade. In that time frame we’d have mastered GE414 and Kaveri can leverage that know-how. Also AMCA engine is likely to be rolled out in that timeframe.

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

You forgot to count the 12+ mockups each year. Soon, they’ll scale it up to one full squadron per year. Badly needed for defense expos for customers in South America, Africa, Southeast Asia etc.

Can't say jow good or bad Tejas Mk1/ Mk1A are. But everyone knows their rate of production till date - 1 to 3 per year. IAF has no choice but nobody else is going to buy the Tejas in the current scenario. HAL is wasting time and money trying to sell the Tejas to foreign customers.

 

[Anant]

Kaveri is being integrated in the current form and will be certified.

But current Kaveri or even the new one with the proposed afterburner will fall short of required thrust by a good margin.Besides, it weighs few hundred kg more too. So it’s not a replacement of F404.

Though integration per se will not take a decade. In that time frame we’d have mastered GE414 and Kaveri can leverage that know-how. Also AMCA engine is likely to be rolled out in that timeframe.

The Kaveri is currently being tested on dry runs. Unless someone has managed to develop the afterburner in utter secrecy, said afterburner is still several years away from being certified for service.

That said, in theory, the Kaveri can be used as an F404 substitute. Both engines have similar performance and size, albeit the higher weight of the Kaveri (as you mentioned) will cause a slight drop in performance. That said, I am not in favour of the idea of using the Kaveri on the Tejas Mk 1A either.

The Kaveri should complete development for use in dry configuration on UAVs. If needed, we could develop an afterburner section as well for testing purposes and to get some learnings out of the whole exercise.

 

[AK S]

IAF believes that current HAL's rate of production is 16 jets !! 😅🤣😆

It’s not. At best 13-14 in 24-25. Below is the break-up:

5 hangars in LCA + 3 Kiran hangars (very old and doesn’t really work) + 8 hangars in new LCA assembly line “inaugurated” couple of years back by our DM but yet to see the first Tejas out of it.

This infra shares workload of Naval LCA, MK2 and later AMCA and TEDBf. So clearly even 13 will be a stretch.

When orders for 97 more comes in and Nashik assembly line is repurposed (about 3 years from the T0 to roll out), then additional 12 hangars maybe added. Most likely they’d keep few for Su30 MKI upgrade and overhaul. After that point, maybe 23-24 is possible. By then GE needs to ramp up engine production to at least 30+ to cater to Korea, home and India.

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

Must agree for Kaveri engine for MK1A

Is the Kaveri engine ready? NO.
Is their a reasonable time line? NO.
How can anyone agree on anything in the lack of a clear way forward?

 

[Sandeep]

Anything that helps HAL increase its production rate is good news but they have to then use it to its maximum capacity as otherwise it's a waste of money and resources. In total we have ordered 200 Tejas MK1A jets and we need to produce more than 24 jets a year because otherwise it will take over 10 years to complete the order.

Before that Tejas 2 will be ready for production and we can't delay it's production until we complete all Tejas MK1A jet order. We will have to setup a brand new production facility with at least 4 or more production lines as we need to replace all of the very old Mig 29, Mirage 2000 and jaguar jets which have had many upgrades already.

 

[The_rED_dEVIL]

Okay, production line basics: A delay at the bottleneck is a delay in the output.

GE has not mentioned being capable of delivering 24 F404 engines a year anytime soon. That means that HAL has either been lying about not having enough engines to scale up production (looking at some of the comments by people on this forum), or they simply don't know the basics of production. Your pick.

A delay by GE is enough to hamper Tejas programme.
75 F404 engines delivered to India.

Tejas delivery breakup:-
Prototypes- 19**
Tejas single seater- 32
Sub total- 51
Upto 7 Tejas trainers are either delivered or under construction
And additional 2 Tejas Mk1A under construction

Total of 60 Tejas delivered by year end.
That is, around 15 unused engines are left with HAL with 99 on order.

**2 Tech Demonstrator, 6 Prototypes, 3 Naval and 8 Limited Series Production

Just telling...

 

[Akshat]

Can't say jow good or bad Tejas Mk1/ Mk1A are. But everyone knows their rate of production till date - 1 to 3 per year. IAF has no choice but nobody else is going to buy the Tejas in the current scenario. HAL is wasting time and money trying to sell the Tejas to foreign customers.

Actually it was pretty good earlier. They delivered 16 jets in 3 years when IOC was being made, against a capacity of 8. That’s 66% utilization.

 

[Akshat]

It’s not. At best 13-14 in 24-25. Below is the break-up:

5 hangars in LCA + 3 Kiran hangars (very old and doesn’t really work) + 8 hangars in new LCA assembly line “inaugurated” couple of years back by our DM but yet to see the first Tejas out of it.

This infra shares workload of Naval LCA, MK2 and later AMCA and TEDBf. So clearly even 13 will be a stretch.

When orders for 97 more comes in and Nashik assembly line is repurposed (about 3 years from the T0 to roll out), then additional 12 hangars maybe added. Most likely they’d keep few for Su30 MKI upgrade and overhaul. After that point, maybe 23-24 is possible. By then GE needs to ramp up engine production to at least 30+ to cater to Korea, home and India.

So you are saying that MoD lied when they officially said that HAL now has the capacity to make 16? Whether they make them or not is a different issue.

 

[Akshat]

Must agree for Kaveri engine for MK1A

You mean that thing which blew up its test aircraft in Russia during testing? No thanks.

 

[Akshat]

IAF was also under the impression till last year that mk1a deliveries will happen on time while HAL had decided a year back that they won’t deliver on time. Seems HAL is consistently lying to everyone.

 

[Anant]

A delay by GE is enough to hamper Tejas programme.
75 F404 engines delivered to India.

Tejas delivery breakup:-
Prototypes- 19**
Tejas single seater- 32
Sub total- 51
Upto 7 Tejas trainers are either delivered or under construction
And additional 2 Tejas Mk1A under construction

Total of 60 Tejas delivered by year end.
That is, around 15 unused engines are left with HAL with 99 on order.

**2 Tech Demonstrator, 6 Prototypes, 3 Naval and 8 Limited Series Production

Just telling...

Not denying what you are saying, boss. However, GE has said that they can deliver 10 engines each year for another year or two while production capacity is scaled back up. Even with such a scaling, they will deliver, say, 16-20 engines a year.

For HAL to want to deliver 24 jets a year with the timelines they are currently announcing, they may well run into the simple bottlenecks of sufficient engines not being available. That is to say nothing of capacity bottlenecks at the hundreds of other vendors who supply components for the Tejas.

Even with all that aside, some F404s delivered would have been ceded to the IAF for use as emergency spares for in-service Tejas airframes. The IAF will want to keep a few engines, just in case they happen to need them quickly.

 

[The_rED_dEVIL]

Not denying what you are saying, boss. However, GE has said that they can deliver 10 engines each year for another year or two while production capacity is scaled back up. Even with such a scaling, they will deliver, say, 16-20 engines a year.

For HAL to want to deliver 24 jets a year with the timelines they are currently announcing, they may well run into the simple bottlenecks of sufficient engines not being available. That is to say nothing of capacity bottlenecks at the hundreds of other vendors who supply components for the Tejas.

Even with all that aside, some F404s delivered would have been ceded to the IAF for use as emergency spares for in-service Tejas airframes. The IAF will want to keep a few engines, just in case they happen to need them quickly.

Neither did I deny. Thats why I told "Just telling." You're right. But MAYBE there is a chance to ramp up F404 production. If T-7 Red Hawk trainer wins contract to replace T-38 Talon in USAF. T-7 jet uses F404 engines.