India's first self-developed "Brilliant" and "Brilliant" fighter is regarded by the Indian authorities as a symbol of national pride and force. However, the plane had a series of problems at the Dubai International Air Show, which caused a commotion as the plane could not appear in the air.
According to Indian sources, the Indian Air Force sent three Tejas fighters to Dubai this time, two for test flights and one for stationary. However, on November 15 and 16, the two Tejas fighters had to make a forced landing due to problems with the aircraft's electronic equipment, and the organizers had to abandon the test flight. It wasn't until November 18 that the "Brilliant" fighter finally made a successful test flight, but it could not save them from failure at the air show.
The development process of "brilliance" can be described as tortuous. Development of the aircraft began in 1983, when the Indian Air Force urgently needed a new light fighter to replace the older MiG-21 to meet the needs of Pakistani F-16 fighters. India also values the project as a major step in the process of indigenizing Indian fighter jets. However, India has many problems in its industrial base, scientific and technological strength, management system, and so on, resulting in a certain degree of delay in the development progress of the "Brilliant" and many twists and turns.
After nearly two decades of development, Tejas finally completed its first flight on January 4, 2001. However, the "Brilliant" has not yet been developed. If the "Brilliant" wants to become a real fighter, it must undergo a series of tests and demonstrations, and carry out continuous improvement and upgrading. It took India 15 years before the Tejas fighter was officially put into service with the Indian Air Force.
However, the indicators of the "brilliance" are not ideal, engines, radars, etc. need to be imported, and all kinds of equipment and bullets are imported from many countries, which can be called "made in all countries". According to press reports, the Brilliant, hired from the French company Dassault and greatly inspired by Air France, used a large triangular wing similar to the Mirage 2000 with a wingspan of 82 meters, take-off weight 135 tons, maximum take-off weight 135 tons, the maximum hanging load is 53 tons, equipped with a General Electronics company F404-GE-IN20 engine, the maximum take-off speed of 1Mach 6, up to 16000 m, with a maximum range of up to 1800 km and 500 km without auxiliary fuel tanks.
Now there are two different models of the Tejas fighter, the MK-1 and the MK-1A. The "Tej" MK-1 is equipped with 8 ** hardpoints, which are equipped with the ELM-2032 pulse-Doppler radar developed by the Israeli company Elta, and the An AAQ-28 (V) optoelectronic guidance pod developed by the Israeli Rafael Defense System, as well as Russian-made air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles and anti-ship missiles.
The Tejas "MK-1 is India's first self-developed fighter, and it has a lot of shortcomings. For example, in the absence of air **, the pilot, on one flight, must carry an oxygen tank with him, and after less than an hour in the air, he must return, otherwise he will be shot down. To increase its combat effectiveness, it was the "Brilliant" MK-1A that "came into being". The prototype completed its first flight on June 20, 2022, and will go into production in 2024.
The "Brilliant" MK-1A uses the F404-GE-IN20 engine produced by General Motors, which has not been greatly improved in terms of performance, loading performance, etc., and there is no change in the equipment of the equipment, the only change is the update of electronic equipment and electronic equipment. The aircraft will be equipped with an ELM-2052 active phased array radar, an Israeli Erta system, an ELL-8222WB type self-defense jammer and developed by the Israeli company Elbit. The "Brilliant" MK-1A also uses a number of composite structures, has the best capabilities, and in general, its comprehensive capabilities are not inferior to the most advanced and semi-combatant.
In recent years, India has introduced the "Brilliant" fighter to the global market, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity of replacing the global aircraft to open up the export channel of the "Brilliant." Therefore, India has even started a "** war" and put forward all kinds of favorable terms in order to get more customers. However, India's move failed to achieve the desired results, and Malaysia, Argentina and other countries have abandoned the "Tejal" fighters imported from India in favor of purchasing more advanced, more mature and more reliable fighters.
India's "Brilliant" has great shortcomings in the military industry, which is due to its high degree of localization, and many important components need to be purchased from foreign countries, resulting in high cost and poor performance. In addition, the "Guanghui" has just been put into use, and it has not yet possessed a certain degree of actual combat capability and credibility. On top of that, India is also notoriously high in flight accident and disability rates, which makes their export aircraft even worse.
Therefore, if the Indian "Brilliant" can achieve a breakthrough on a global scale, it must be patient enough to take all the key components into their own hands, and only then will they have the opportunity to get more orders in the first field. If you can't do this, it will be difficult to get those who are interested in it by relying on media publicity and high selling prices alone.
The Tejas fighter is a major effort in India's aviation industry, and it also demonstrates India's independent development in defense. Although it was difficult to develop, it also showed the persistence and persistence of the Indians in this regard. Although it lacks functionality, it is also a microcosm of India's innovation and development in a way. Although the export of its products is difficult, it also shows India's ambition and motivation. India's "Brilliant" fighter is India's pride, India's shortcomings, and what its future is, and India still needs to make more efforts in order to get more tests.