During 21st Dr. Srinivasan Memorial Lecture – 2021, organized by Aeronautical Society of India in Association with Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy gave some important details about the upcoming TEDBF aircraft for Navy.

In the slide shared by Chairman, we can see that TEDBF is going to have a maximum take of weight (MTOW) of 26 tons. It will be very interesting to see the maximum take of weight TEDBF can achieve from STOBAR carrier.

At the same we can see a preliminary design of Deck Bases Fighter. In the preliminary design we can clearly see a canards integration with aircraft. These canards will help in generating more lift for the aircraft while launching from aircrafts carrier.

TEDBF preliminary design - Slide from G. Satheesh Reddy lecture

From the design we can also notice that the ADA (Aeronautical Development Agency) is trying to incorporate stealth characteristics in the frontal fuselage of the aircraft. This means the aircraft is going to have a very low Radar Cross Section (RCS) from front.

Although generally design body used to avoid canards in order to increase stealth characteristics of the aircraft.

TEDBF is also going to be a delta wing aircraft (derived from Tejas) but these wings can also be foldable, so that it can fit in the hangar and lift of Indian aircraft carrier.

As per G Satheesh Reddy, the Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) will take its first flight by 2026 and by this calculation the fighter aircraft can enter into the service of Indian Navy, somewhere around 2029-30.

DRDO is working on Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) to replace Navy carrier Based Fighter MiG-29K. Indian Navy has gone through a rough experience with Russian MiG-29K and by 2030 Navy requires new fighter jets to replace its existing fleets.