The Indian media has rushed to criticize the US after the Tejas fighter jet crashed in Dubai, and their reasons are indeed hard to refute!
The Tejas fighter jet started its development in the 1980s and only barely entered service in 2016, taking 33 years, which is a record. Indians hailed it as "a national pride," but in reality, the plane is full of foreign parts. It uses the American F404 engine, Israeli radar, French missiles, and British ejection seats, making it an international mishmash. The engine is the most critical part. India originally wanted to develop its own Kaveri engine, but it couldn't achieve the required thrust of 80-90 kilonewtons, only reaching 70 kilonewtons, so they had to rely on American engines. The F404 is an 80s design, sold over 4,000 units worldwide, with a decent safety record. However, Indian media insists that it had problems under high temperatures. On the day of the crash in Dubai, it was 35 degrees Celsius, with desert heat waves. When the aircraft performed negative G maneuvers, the compressor was prone to stall, causing a 20% drop in thrust and unstable oil pressure, leading to loss of lift. The video shows black smoke from the right side, isn't that solid evidence? They also brought up old issues: in March 2024, a Tejas training aircraft crashed in Rajasthan, and the investigation found it was due to a fuel pump failure, same model F404, same problem, and the Americans didn't fix it thoroughly.
Indian media's actions have been fierce. Retired Lieutenant General Vikrant Nair and BK Mody appeared on a show, slamming the table and emphasizing that the US is clearly trying to block them. The upgraded version of the Tejas Mk1A was supposed to use a better F414 engine, which has 98 kilonewtons of thrust and responds 30% faster, but the US refused to sell it, citing export controls. As a result, the Indian Air Force was in a hurry, ordering 83 Mk1A jets in 2021, and then adding another 97 in September 2025, totaling over $7 billion, but none have been delivered yet, because of slow engine supply. The media directly pointed out that General Electric only provided two export models of the F404, and the post-pandemic supply chain breakdown is just an excuse; they are afraid that the Tejas will take orders for F-16 and F/A-18 in the Middle East and third world countries. Host Anubhav Goswami shouted during a debate that the US sees the Tejas as a competitor and deliberately hinders it, and India paid $1 billion in deposit, but received only empty promises. Retired General GD Bakshi also added insult to injury, saying GE has never been a friend of India, and Washington strategically sees the Tejas as a threat. On social media, Indian netizens shared the 2023 audit report, stating that the project was launched in 1983, went through countless design changes, and when the supply chain broke down, it took 42 years to produce a finished product, all relying on foreign engines.
This criticism sounds genuine because India's military industry is indeed stuck at a bottleneck. Without a complete industrial chain, domestic fighter jets are essentially just shell assembly, with core power controlled by the US. The Tejas has a very low availability rate, and Indian Air Force ground crews complain that it is more troublesome to maintain than the old MiG-21. In 2021, the audit office pointed out 53 defects, including fuselage cracks and bottom plate cracking. The day before the airshow, there was a video showing the Tejas leaking oil, with people using shopping bags to collect liquid, and the Indian Defense Ministry quickly clarified it was condensation water, but who would believe that? The media seized the opportunity, saying compatibility is poor, and the F404 efficiency drops 15% in high temperature desert environments, and India can't keep up with optimization, all of which is the responsibility of the US. General Electric responded, saying that the global record is good, and they are willing to check flight logs, and delays are purely supply chain issues, not targeting India. However, Indian media doesn't buy this, continues to amplify, and even the parliament has begun to call for engine diversification, deepening the rift in Indo-US aviation cooperation.
To be fair, the blame is well-founded, but it also exposes India's own problems. The Tejas project has cost $9 billion, originally intended to replace the aging MiG-21 fleet, but now the Indian Air Force is seriously short of fighter jets, and Pakistan's JF-17 is causing trouble. The export dream was expected to promote the Middle East countries at the Dubai Air Show, and delegations from Argentina and Malaysia were already talking, but after the crash, the delegations withdrew. At a price of $70-80 million per unit, the performance is only third-generation semi-level, and the cost-effectiveness is already average, now it's getting worse.
Indian media is firing at the US, and their reasons are factual: engine aging, high-temperature risks, delayed delivery, and market competition, all are facts. General Electric sells well globally, but failed in the Indian environment. Blaming is blaming, but the root lies in India's weak self-research, unstable supply chain, and loose quality control. The future of the Tejas looks bleak, exports are stalled, and the Air Force needs to rely on French Rafales or American and Russian fifth-generation fighters to make up for the gap. Indians need to wake up, and the military industry is not about shouting slogans, but actually investing money to build a system, otherwise, the next time they fall again, no one will take the blame.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1849735233528844/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.