LCA Tejas Mk2 · LCA Tejas Mk2 — medium-weight 4.5-generation fighter (HAL, deputed GE F414 engine)

The LCA Tejas Mk2 is Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's (HAL) medium-weight, 4.5-generation multi-role combat aircraft — a significantly enlarged and re-engined development of the Tejas light combat aircraft family (Mk1, Mk1A). Approved by the IAF as a priority programme to bridge the gap between the light Tejas and the heavier, more capable (defunct) MMRCA and the future AMCA, the Mk2 grows the Tejas airframe to carry more fuel and a larger, more capable radar, and to mount a more powerful engine — the US-built GE F414-GE-IN6 afterburning turbofan. The design was declared complete in 2023-24, with first flight originally targeted around 2026-27 but repeatedly deferred (the programme has slipped from earlier estimates). The Mk2 is intended to carry the indigenous Uttam AESA radar, integrate Astra and European missiles in the air-to-air role, and carry BrahMos-NG-class or other air-launched strike weapons, giving the IAF a workhorse medium fighter to rebuild its squadron numbers. Strategically, the Mk2 is the crucial technology and industrial step between the small, less-capable Mk1A and the fifth-generation AMCA: it matures the twin-beam airframe, digital fly-by-wire, avionics and (later) AESA integration needed for AMCA, and it keeps HAL's combat-aircraft line alive. It also provides a two-seat advantage for the IAF's signal enhancement, and the Mk2 shares the F414 engine with the planned AMCA — a deliberate commonality decision to simplify logistics. The programme is a bellwether for whether India can design and field a competitive medium fighter indigenously before the AMCA matures.