The Indian Government till date has sanctioned a total development cost of Rs 9000 crore including the Rs 2500 crore that has already been spent, for the development of LCA Mk 2, an updated and more lethal version of indigenously deceloped Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas.
Designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF), the HAL Tejas Mark 2 is an Indian single-engine, canard delta wing, multirole and medium weight combat aircraft.
It is a further development of the HAL Tejas, with an elongated airframe, close coupled canards, new sensors, and a more powerful engine.
To be noted that it is being designed and developed to replace multiple strike fighters of IAF viz, the SEPECAT Jaguar, Dassault Mirage 2000, and Mikoyan MiG-29.
The indigenous content of the fighter will be 82% initially and will cross 90% after the licensed production of its engine.
Also, it is 20% larger than Mk1, has greater capacity, state-of-the-art avionics and range as well as higher weapon carrying capacity, which we are yet to announce.
This fighter plane will have only one version, although IAF might go in for a trainer plane later.
Notably, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had cleared the LCA Mk 2 project in September last year, and is most likely to be ready for its maiden flight by 2025.
Source: https://pib.gov.in/
