ADA Rolls Out MWF Version of Tejas

The Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Bengaluru-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA has unveiled the conceptual design of the Tejas AF Mk.2 medium weight fighter (MWF), which features a stretched fuselage and larger wing-area, plus twin canards for enhanced agility. To be powered by a single GE Aero Engines-supplied F414-INS6 turbofan rated at 98kN with afterburning, the MWF will be equipped with a yet-to-be-selected multi-mode active phased-array radar, inflight refuelling probe, infra-red search-and-track system, a new-generation digital flight-control computer, and an all-new design cockpit containing panoramic active-matrix liquid crystal displays.

The first Tejas AF Mk.2 MWF’s first fully integrated flying prototype is expected to be rolled out by late 2026 by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), following which around 2,000 hours of flight-tests will be required to be conducted by no less than with four flying prototypes over a period of three years prior to receiving the certificate of airworthiness. So, for all intents and purposes, the Tejas AF Mk.2 MWF will not enter series-production until 2030.