im pretty sure the JF's radars can still detect the LCA, albeit with a lower RCS. it's not exactly a stealth fighter, and not invisible to radar. so not much advantage there.
FBW will help in tighter turns, agreed. what about BVR combat? are these two evenly matched?
In a BVR fight there are too many variables-relative distance, closing speeds, relative postions, EW/SDS systems employed etc etc to say with any degree of certainty what will happen. But many airpower analysts have simulated BVR and say that these days a lot of these fights will more often than not lead to WVR combat (contrary to what had been predicted in the 60s).
bhai mere, please wo metrics bata do yaar. im not doubting the LCA's capability, but i just want to know our plane's capability over theirs. just saying that it's better without numbers to back it up is a terrible sales pitch really.
I've stated why the LCA is superior to the Thunder, I don't have the exact ITR, AoA, RCS etc etc figures for both fighters but all of the qualative ananysis clearly favours the LCA and you can draw only one conclusion from that.
Does that make the LCA invicible against the JF-17? Of course not, employment, pilot training etc etc all the standard stuff, will affect the end result as well as a fair dose of luck one way or another on the day.
Range figures are not accurate and true figures will be known only after IAF uses them? how in the world does that help Tejas's credibility? it's not like a super secret weapon we're building which only we are going to use. we do intend to export it, dont we? should the metric of range be kept so fudged that a prospective international customer has no idea?
I have said the numbers are not known to us, of course any nation seriously considering the LCA will sit down with HAL and be given a full and confidential breif (just like the GoI/IAF/IN) has had for the V-22s, EMALS, F-35 etc etc. The numbers just aren't available to the public and why do they need to be? HAL/ADA/India gains NOTHING from having the true capabilities of the LCA revealed to the world- those who need to know will be told, this is common practice around the world in most industries.
4.5 gen would mean zilch if its adversary can still hold some performance advantages. the Tiger tank was a german engineering marvel. pure quality. it got beaten by the t 34. a relatively simpler tank with good performance.
A numbers vs quality analysis aproach between the LCa and JF-17 is false equivalancy my friend. Think about operational employment, it is very unlikely the LCA will go head to head with the JF-17 on a 1 vs 1 basis all too often. The JF-17 will be going up against MKIs, Rafales and the like- the IAF's operational doctrine is to fight in Pak airspace with the LCA making up a rear guard.
That said, at some point in the not to distant future the LCA will have quantity AND its inherent quality over the Thunder on its side. I don't know exactly what PAC or Chengdu are playing at but if you look at the inducted JF-17s in the PAF, it appears they are only averaging 7-8 birds a year. From 2017 HAL will be churning out 16/year and they are already producing 19-20 MKIs/year.