LCA Tejas MK I vs MiG 21.

Tejas MK I vs MiG 21.

Two MiG 21s and a Tejas MK I (center) flying in formation
Image credits: http://www.tejas.gov.in/

Here we are  comparing Tejas with  MiG 21 because Tejas is the actual aircraft that is going to replace MiG21 in Indian air force.

Compare to MiG21 Tejas is an very good all rounder except in two key aspects. One is combat radius and second one is the menuvarability.

MiG 21 has a combat radius of 1000+ kms where Tejas has only 300+ kms which limits the number of tactical messions it can undertake with out air to air refuelling and this is one of the main reason IAF is not happy to have Tejas in its fleets. Also this may be the reason the government is looking for some other single engine fighters like mirage 2000 and JAS Gripen to complement along with Tejas to replace MiG 21 in to the IAF!

When it is coming to high angle of attacks Tejas still needed to be improved compare to MiG21 and the development is still going on. Also as of now Tejas is not as menuvarable as MiG 21 and flight testing & development on that front is going on.

Now Tejas is very important to India to validate its fighter jet designing skills. It is very tough to design an aircraft with negative aerodynamic coefficient and with fly by wire technology. India has demonstrated its capabilities in this two technologies to the world by incorporating them in Tejas!!

Tejas is tailored made for IAF with even inputs taken from IAF pilots for cockpit layout and ease of use of various controls in cockpit.

IAF is free to integrate any weapon in to Tejas which is not the case with Mirage or any other foreign aircrafts!

Also the Tejas MK II which is under developement will overcome most of the disadvantages of Tejas MK I I including its combat radius!