An Indian Air Power Tejas fighter jet crashed throughout an illustration on the Dubai Airshow on November 21, killing the plane’s sole pilot. The Air Power reported that it “deeply regrets the lack of life and stands firmly with the bereaved household on this time of grief,” including {that a} ”courtroom of inquiry is being constituted, to determine the reason for the accident.” Footage of the flight exhibits the plane flying throughout the show web site a number of occasions, earlier than showing to lose management and diving steeply towards the bottom on the Al Maktoum Worldwide Airport at Dubai World Central. The crash follows a number of experiences that the plane was experiencing oil leaks on the occasion.
The incident represents a serious public relations catastrophe for India’s first main indigenous fighter program, with the Tejas affected by a long time lengthy delays and remaining in restricted service over 24 years after its first flight. This system has bought to mitigate the restrictions of native business by counting on imported engines and an avionics from america and Israel. India has made efforts to market the fighter overseas, with the very light-weight plane falling in the identical weight vary because the Sino-Pakistani JF-17 Block 3 and Swedish Gripen E/F. A serious limitation of this system has been its price, with a big order positioned in September seeing the fighters price roughly $72 million every, which compares poorly to a lot heavier and extra succesful plane, such because the Su-30MKI that types the spine of the Indian fleet.
The Indian Air Power has suffered from important public relations setbacks in 2025, with between one and 4 of its newly procured Rafale fighter plane having been shot down by Pakistani forces throughout clashes in Could. Lengthy hyped by Indian officers and media, the procurement of the plane has been extremely controversial resulting from their excessive prices and on paper restricted capabilities. It stays unsure whether or not continued points with the Tejas program will lead the Defence Ministry to reevaluate efforts to give attention to indigenous fighter improvement, with experiences from each native media and official sources indicating that the Ministry is predicted to signal a serious contract to acquire Russian Su-57 fifth technology fighter plane. As India faces an more and more unfavourable steadiness of energy within the air, the prioritisation of the Su-57 to supply a fifth technology fighter functionality might compete with the a lot lighter and fewer succesful fourth technology Tejas for funding.
