HAL Tejas Mk2 to roll out next year, first flight in 2023

[Jazzbot]

This is going to be a new game changer for India..

 

[Keysersoze]

The pandemic caused a considerable delay in the schedule of all the development programs. A number of scientists and staff also died due to it.

Maybe the article misquoted him. But what he said was aircraft rollout, ie. final assembled aircraft coming from the hangar. The flight test for mk2 will be somewhere in 2023.

What is an aircraft rollout?. A new aircraft rollout is the… | by Boom Supersonic | Boom Supersonic

Tejas mk1a is scheduled for first flight in march of 2022 and it is basically an enhanced Tejas with EW capabilities like EL/M-2052 and Uttam AESA radar, self-protection jammer, radar warning receiver, as well as being able to mount an external ECM pod.

mk1a is more of a stop gap model, the mk2 is what the IAF requires and thus has a higher priority.

Lol how long has the Pandemic been around in India? If the the MK1A is a simple "Enhancement" then why is it taking 2 years?
The engine was supposedly selected in 2010 yet has not been manufactured. That will take the usual Indian speed to complete.