This Is One Of The Smallest Modern Fighter Jets (But It Still Has Quite The Sting)

looking at some pictures of fighter jets can give you the mistaken impression they're relatively small aircraft. Although fighters typically carry only a single occupant and are streamlined for agile flight,  most are pretty big. For example, the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II is 51 feet long with a 35-foot wingspan and stands 14 feet off the ground. It's not light either, with  a maximum takeoff weight of 70,000 lbs.

Generation 4.5 fighters use advanced materials and electronic systems to shed some of that weight and bulk, and one jet made in India packs quite a punch in its relatively small package. The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas comes in four configurations: single-and traing-ready double-seater aircraft each equipped separately for the nation's Air Force and Navy. 

 The Tejas has a much smaller footprint than the F-35 at  just over 43 feet long and almost 27 feet wide. The only dimension in which it's bigger is its height of 14 feet 4.3 inches, and it weighs less than half as much as the F-35 at 29,762 lbs. Despite its smaller fuselage, the Tejas has up-to-date weapons, control, and navigation systems that make it comparable to other 4.5-generation fighters like the American-made F/A-18 Super Hornet, Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen, and Russian Sukhoi Su-35.

HAL crammed as many features into the smallish jet as it could fit, and the Tejas is a big deal for India because it means less reliance on foreign-made fighters and the chance to sell Indian-made planes abroad. A rumored interest from Argentina didn't result in a deal between the two nations, but India hopes to sell the Tejas to as many other countries as possible. The meaning of the word "Tejas" varies among the many languages spoken in India but reflects concepts such as "radiance," "self-sufficiency," and "fire."

The Tejas Mk 1-A is a mean little bugger with eight weapons stations, a top speed of Mach 1.8 (over 1,370 mph), and a total payload of nearly 11,700 lbs. Its weapons systems include twin machine guns, a variety of anti-ship and air-to-ground missiles, rockets, and bombs. It also carries electronic targeting, navigation, weather, and radar systems that make it comparable to other 4.5-generation fighters.

The Tejas Mk 1 is powered by by a GE Aerospace F404-GE-IN20 turbofan engine that can move  up to 153 cubic feet of air per second and produce as much as 19,000 lbs. of thrust. The Tejas first entered service in April 2007, and the Mk 2 version is already in development to replace India's legacy fighters. The Mk 2 will be a Medium Weight Fighter (MWF), so the first generation of the Tejas should remain the smallest and lightest fighter in its original class.