The last day of the Dubai Airshow - 2025 international exhibition was not without incident. The Indian HAL Tejas light fighter crashed during a demonstration flight.
The accident occurred at about 14:10 local time, Tejas suddenly lost altitude, crashed into the ground and caught fire. Footage on the Web shows thick black smoke rising from the scene.
The Indian Air Force confirmed the death of the pilot and said that they had created an investigation team to determine the causes of the crash.
According to preliminary data, the fighter crashed while performing a "barrel roll" element, making a complete revolution around its axis. The Rostec State Corporation expressed its condolences to the Indian side.
Aviation is high-tech, complex and, alas, sometimes associated with great risk. We express our condolences.
This is the second such incident with Tejas in recent years. In 2024, one of the copies crashed during exercises in India, then the pilot managed to eject.
As a reminder, Tejas was designed with an "open architecture" of weapons control. The aircraft supports the integration of combat systems from different countries, including the R-73, a Soviet-Russian short-range missile.
The organizers of the air show temporarily suspended flights after the accident with Tejas, visitors were sent back to the exhibition site. The Russian Air Force aerobatic team, the Strizhi, was announced among the performers on the last day of the exhibition.
As a reminder, India discussed with Russia the possibility ofpurchasing Su-57 fighters. The Indian side hopes to createits own fifth-generation combat aircraft with the help of Russian technologies.