The Tejas program began in 1983 with a target of first flight in 1993 and induction in 1995. First flight occurred in 2001. Induction into the Indian Air Force began in 2016. For most of that period, the program was a byword for defence procurement dysfunction — chronic delays, cost overruns, and performance shortfalls that kept the Indian Air Force sourcing Russian and French aircraft while waiting for a domestic alternative that seemed perpetually five years away.

The Tejas Mark 2, certified in 2023, is a substantially different aircraft from its predecessors: a 17.5-tonne multirole platform powered by a GE F414 engine producing 98 kilonewtons of thrust, carrying an Israeli EL/M-2052 AESA radar, and capable of carrying the full range of Indian and compatible Western air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions. Malaysian Air Force evaluators, who tested it against the South Korean FA-50 and the Sino-Pakistani JF-17 Block 3, rated it superior in radar capability and weapons integration.

The Malaysia contract — valued at approximately $1.1 billion including a 10-year maintenance and training package delivered by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited — represents India's largest defence export order and the first export of an Indian-designed combat aircraft. The Indian government has cited it as validation of the Defence Acquisition Procedure's indigenisation requirements, which mandate minimum domestic content thresholds that have progressively forced capability development rather than licence production.

The Air Forces of Argentina, Egypt, and the Philippines have initiated preliminary discussions about the Tejas Mark 2 following the Malaysia announcement. HAL has confirmed it is expanding production capacity from 16 to 24 aircraft per year to accommodate potential additional export orders alongside the Indian Air Force's standing requirement for 97 further aircraft.

"We spent 40 years learning to do this," said HAL Chairman C. B. Ananthakrishnan. "Malaysia has decided that education was worth the wait."