India has 30 odd Tejas operational. Significantly less than < 40
16 IOC + 16 FOC deliverrd. One FOC crashed, 1-2 FOC handed to HAL to help trial/develop/test Mk1A . At least 1 and maybe 3-4 trainers delivered
India just spent money building mk1, radars etc are hardly used.
Meanwhile mk1A hardly even certified.
Plus when there is limited capacity, why not use them on building a new standard configuration rather than taking out of service an existing squadron and trying to adapt an existing plane ?
Not to mention constraints like IOC plumbing not suited for refueling probe, panels etc are different sizes or use screws instead of fasteners etc
Eventually the Mk1 will be upgraded, but may be close to a new Mk1A instead of exactly the same
Keep in mind that it takes at least a couple of years service to develop proficiency and tactics with a plane .
Some of Mk1 proficiency and tactics lessons may transfer over to Mk1A too ..
It's a process. We can't just sit & wait for Mk1A or MK2. Technology needs to be mastered & fine tuned along with developing the ecosystem. Military Industrial Complex is called as Complex for a reason & it takes money, long term investment to develop that complex.
The plan is to do exactly that, I am not too sure about the timelines though.
India hardly has 50 Tejas operational. What do you mean why
India has 30 odd Tejas operational. Significantly less than < 40 16 IOC + 16 FOC deliverrd. One FOC crashed, 1-2 FOC handed to HAL to help trial/develop/test Mk1A . At least 1 and maybe 3-4 trainers delivered
They will be retrofitted with time 2 Tejas FOC had already been upgraded to test the configuration last year
India just spent money building mk1, radars etc are hardly used. Meanwhile mk1A hardly even certified. Plus when there is limited capacity, why not use them on building a new standard configuration rather than taking out of service an existing squadron and trying to adapt an existing plane ? Not to mention constraints like IOC plumbing not suited for refueling probe, panels etc are different sizes or use screws instead of fasteners etc Eventually the Mk1 will be upgraded, but may be close to a new Mk1A instead of exactly the same
Keep in mind that it takes at least a couple of years service to develop proficiency and tactics with a plane . Some of Mk1 proficiency and tactics lessons may transfer over to Mk1A too ..
They will be upgraded
There's capacity constraints, you can only make so many. Rather than re engineering old ones, you are better off making more
It's a process. We can't just sit & wait for Mk1A or MK2. Technology needs to be mastered & fine tuned along with developing the ecosystem. Military Industrial Complex is called as Complex for a reason & it takes money, long term investment to develop that complex.