Tejas update!
I know it's easy to make fun of the Indians, but honestly, the only way out for them is to build their own stuff. Otherwise they will be stuck buying other people's expensive toys forever.
As a refresher: The Tejas Mk1A was not originally planned. The IAF had assumed they would skip straight to Tejas Mk2 from Mk1. The Mk1A was a compromise solution conceived in 2015, with numerous improvements over the first generation Tejas. The reason given was that making too many changes to Mk2 would be expensive. So better build on an existing platform. Think of it as a stop-gap measure.
The first flight was assumed to be in 2022 according to the original plan. Sources to the paper claim that the IAF will get first deliveries H1 of 2026.
But today's deal is
another batch. These are supposed to be delivered later: 2027-2028.
So summing it up, the IAF has now ordered 180 Mk1A. That's quite a lot for a "stop-gap solution". On top of this, work is progressing with Tejas Mk2 and of course AMCA.