Tejas crash dampens export hopes for Indian fighter jet

The crash of India’s Tejas fighter jet in front of global arms buyers at the Dubai Airshow is the latest blow to a key national trophy, leaving the plane reliant on Indian military orders to sustain its role as a showcase of home-built defence technology.

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The cause of the crash on Nov 21 was not immediately known but it capped a week of jockeying for influence at the event, attended by India’s arch-rival Pakistan six months after the neighbours faced off in the world’s largest air battle in decades.

Such a public loss will inevitably overshadow India’s efforts to establish the jet abroad after a painstaking development over four decades, experts said, as India paid tribute to Wing Commander Namansh Syal who died in the crash.

"The imagery is brutal," said Mr Douglas A. Birkey, executive director of US-based Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, referring to the history of crashes at air shows where nations and industries seek to tout major national achievements.

"A crash sends quite the opposite signal: a dramatic failure," he noted, adding that while the Tejas would suffer negative publicity, it would most likely regain momentum.

Dubai is the world’s third-largest air show after Paris and Britain’s Farnborough, and accidents at such events have become increasingly rare.

In 1999, a Russian Sukhoi Su-30 crashed after touching the ground during a manoeuvre at the Paris Air Show, and a Soviet MiG-29 crashed at the same event a decade earlier.

All crew members ejected safely and India went on to place orders for both jets.

Fighter jet sales “are driven by high order political realities, which supersede a one-off incident”, said Mr Birkey.