The Tejas Mk2 is an indigenous multirole fighter under development in India as a larger, more capable successor to the earlier Tejas light combat aircraft. Often described as a medium-weight fighter, it is a separate programme with its own airframe, systems and timeline, intended to broaden the payload, range and role flexibility available to the Indian Air Force. It forms part of a wider effort to strengthen the indigenous share of India's combat fleet and to reduce reliance on imported medium fighters.

The aircraft is being developed under the national aeronautics establishment with HAL as the manufacturing agency and design and technology support drawn from DRDO laboratories. It sits within the broader family of Military Aircraft of India, alongside the in-service Tejas variants and future programmes. The Mk2 is intended to occupy a capability gap between the light Tejas and heavier imported fighters, offering a genuinely multirole platform that can be produced and sustained domestically.

Design and capabilities

Compared with the earlier Tejas, the Mk2 is reported to feature a longer fuselage, additional hardpoints, canards and a more powerful engine, giving it greater fuel and weapons carriage. The design emphasis is on a genuine multirole capability, spanning air defence and strike missions, with modern avionics, an indigenous mission computer and an electronic warfare suite. A larger airframe also allows more internal fuel, improving combat radius, while extra hardpoints expand the range of stores it can carry on a single mission.

The Mk2 is expected to integrate an indigenous active electronically scanned array radar; work on the Uttam AESA radar is closely associated with future indigenous fighters. Its planned weapons fit is expected to include the indigenous Astra beyond-visual-range missile along with a range of precision-guided munitions, positioning the aircraft as a flexible frontline platform. The emphasis on indigenous sensors and weapons is intended to give India control over upgrades and integration through the aircraft's service life.

Programme status and significance

The Tejas Mk2 remains an aircraft under development. Public reporting has described phases such as design maturation, prototype construction and planned first flight, but such milestones are subject to revision, and readers should treat specific dates and timelines as provisional. The programme is widely seen as a bridge between the current light fighter fleet and India's fifth-generation ambitions embodied in the AMCA stealth fighter, sharing technologies and industrial capacity with that effort.

Strategically, the Mk2 is intended to reduce dependence on imported medium fighters and to provide a capable, home-built platform that can be produced and sustained domestically. By deepening the indigenous supply chain across airframe, avionics, radar and weapons, the programme aims to build the industrial base needed for more ambitious future aircraft. It also complements other indigenous rotary and fixed-wing efforts, and is expected to serve alongside imported types for years to come.

  • Role: multirole medium-weight fighter
  • Lead agencies: national aeronautics establishment with HAL production support
  • Planned weapons: Astra BVR missile and precision-guided munitions (planned)
  • Status: under development; milestones provisional

As an indigenous programme, the Tejas Mk2 carries significance beyond its immediate combat value. It represents an attempt to consolidate design and manufacturing expertise within India, to validate domestic subsystems at scale, and to demonstrate that the country can field a competitive, contemporary fighter largely of its own making. The programme is also expected to sustain a skilled aerospace workforce and a network of domestic suppliers, benefits that extend beyond any single aircraft. Its ultimate impact will depend on how quickly development matures and how effectively it enters series production for the Indian Air Force, but its role in India's long-term self-reliance goals is already clear.