Defence & Shipping Stocks Crash; HAL, GRSE, BDL, BEL, Mazagon, Cochin In Focus; Reason & Impact Of Tejas Crash

The majority of shipping and defence stocks entered into frenzy selling on November 24 after the Tejas fighter jet crash at the Dubai Airshow. Stocks like GRSE, Mazagon Dock, Cochin Shipyard, Bharat Electronics, Bharat Dynamics, Paras Defence, Data Pattern, among others, tracked the sharp decline in Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), which is the leader in defence segment of India and also the maker of the Tejas aircraft that slammed into the ground in Dubai, killing the pilot.

Defence Stocks Crashed:

At the time of writing, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), the stock who is in the limelight because of Tejas crash, has nosedived nearly 4% on BSE and NSE. Its counterparts followed suit. Bharat Electronics, Bharat Dynamics, Data Patterns, and Paras Defence dropped by 2% to 3%.

Other stocks like Apollo Micro Systems, Astra Micro, Avantel, DCX Systems, High Energy, MTAR Technologies, Premier Explosives, Solar Industries and Unimech Aerospace also plunged by 1% to 5%.

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities is expecting potential volatility in HAL after the Tejas jet crash.

Shipping Stocks Fall:

Following the trend in defence stocks, Cochin Shipyard tumbled 2%, Dredging Corp and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) plummeted by 3% each. Mazagon Dock, SEAMEC, and Shipping Corporation are also down 1%.

Tejas Jet Aircrash Reason & Impact:

In service since 2001, HAL's Tejas has a long history of remarkable performance and accident-free flying until November 21, 2025. Tejas is said to be the smallest and lightest fighter jet in its generation of supersonic aircraft.

Tejas is made with 4.5-generation, all-weather, and multi-role fighter aircraft, with 9 hardpoints and the capability to fire a variety of weapons like long-range BVR & WVR missiles, bombs, etc., with the required precision and accuracy.

However, on November 21, which was the last day of Dubai Airshow 2025, a single-seat Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas fighter found difficulty in its negative G maneuver into a roll. The aircraft was flying at a low altitude and could not snap the negative G turn quickly. Eyewitnesses said that the aircraft slammed into the ground at around 2:10 pm of November 21, killing the pilot.

The pilot who flew the aircraft was Wing Commander Namansh Syal of the Indian Air Force. He was 34 years old and married to a female IAF officer. They have a six-year-old daughter. His native roots are from Patiyalkar village, Himachal Pradesh.

This crash has triggered an open discussion on social media, with many users believing that the latest mishap is a setback for India's defense segment, which is looking to reach Rs 50,000 crore in exports by 2030.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) team reached Dubai on November 23, 2025, to join the UAE authorities for jointly investigating the crash.

While the full-fledged cause of the problem is yet to be known, experts believe the negative G maneuver could have been the reason behind the crash.

D Raghunandan, an aerospace and defence expert with the Delhi Science Forum and former Hindustan Aeronautics told The Federal that "it appears that the aircraft was not under the control of the pilot when it went down. Whatever happened during the zero-G and negative-G manoeuvres, it looks to me as if, even if the aircraft had stalled, it was unable to recover from that state."

When asked about the impact on Tejas dependence on foreign suppliers for engines and avionics, Raghunandan told The Federal, "At this stage, I would not jump to the conclusion of a systems failure. As far as the Tejas is concerned, this particular model has about 60% indigenous content. Major components like the engine are foreign-origin, but the integration is done by HAL, and I must add, under the supervision of the Indian Air Force (IAF)."

Tejas is designed to be a multi-role aircraft capable of taking up offensive air support, close combat and ground attack role at ease. It is also designed to undertake Ground Maritime Operations. Further LCA Mk1A is the most advanced version of the LCA Tejas. It is equipped with AESA Radar, EW suite consisting of radar warning and self-protection jamming, Digital Map Generator (DMG), Smart Multi-function Displays (SMFD), Combined Interrogator and Transponder (CIT), Advanced Radio Altimeter and other advances features.

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