ADA Tejas (LCA) News and Discussions

[Neeraj Mathur]

wonder what IAF chief has in mind.............

from the look on his face it seems IAF is interested in foreign made goods

 

[Eastman]

Guys please take it easy and please control this
Adrenaline Rush

We should be pleased with IOC 2
BUT A lot of work remains to be done

I will pop the Champagne AFTER FOC

meehh I have already taken my desi tharrra :drunk:

 

[pankaj nema]

from the look on his face it seems IAF is interested in foreign made goods

No mate please dont be so harsh on the IAF

What IAF chief is thinking is in my view ( I am a mind reader )

" I hope I had 40 LCA mk1 FULLY operational Right Now
20 each based at Jamnagar and Jaisalmer "

This long winding saga has had a toll on IAF having to revise their
operational plans for a long time now

 

[Neeraj Mathur]

No mate please dont be so harsh on the IAF

What IAF chief is thinking is in my view ( I am a mind reader )

" I hope I had 40 LCA mk1 FULLY operational Right Now
20 each based at Jamnagar and Jaisalmer "

This long winding saga has had a toll on IAF having to revise their
operational plans for a long time now

brother you are a saint

jai ho pankaj baba ki

 

[nirranj]

Hilarious find ..

But equally unfortunate as these people at that level, lack understanding or dont want to for personal means ..

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ matters.

 

[ersakthivel]

Broadsword: "There are no serious technology challenges ahead" says PS Subramanyam, Director ADA

Today there are no serious technology challenges ahead. This year, we have test-flown the Tejas from IAF bases like Jaisalmer, Uttarlai, Jamnagar and Gwalior. In all these places, we operated the aircraft ourselves, while the IAF watched.

We demonstrated that we could turn around the same aircraft after a gap of an hour or so. On occasions, one Tejas did three sorties a day. The IAF technicians and maintenance officers eventually told us that they now see an aircraft that is reliable enough for combat operations.

We are close to finalizing the engine contract with General Electric, the chosen vendor. By the first quarter of the next year, i.e. March 2014, the preliminary design would have been frozen. Somewhere in 2018, the Mark II will be ready for productionisation. This time there will be no prototypes. We will design for production. We have learned from the mistakes we made in the Tejas.

Besides, there is no ambiguity in the Mark II, as there was in the Mark I. There are not likely to be any changes in the engine, radar, missile, communications. The equipment is known.

There would be no prototypes of Tejas mk-2 and from the first LSP itself it will be ready for production from production.

And it is supposed to enter service march 2018

 

[ersakthivel]

Also in today's TOI , Rajat Pandit in his article titled ("Tejas flies, IAF cheers"-coimbatore edition)has been doing his own R&D(Rhona &Dhona )on tejas with same Blah blah like tejas is 30 years old program completely concealing the fact that the funding for building two TDs were approved only in 1993 and the fighter delivered in 2013, twenty three years which compares well with the other major 4.5th gen fighter program.

And he says that tejas mk-1 will be battle ready only by 2015 middle and tejas mk-2 will be ready for production only in 2022 above in direct contradiction of ADA chief's interview on broad sword,ADA chief says that AMCA itself will be ready in 2025 around, this guy says only tejas mk-2 will be ready in 2020 afterwards, wonder from where he gets these astrological predictions,

lets see the time lines when the fighter tejas mk-2 gets FOC,

He has never mentioned the names of DRDO chief Avinash Chander or DG tamilmani by name even once through out his article!!!!!!

Completely blacking out all of their claims on tejas mk-1 being ready for battle from tomorrow if the need arises!!!!!!

may be with his deep aerodynamic knowledge he might have mistaken them for comperes the IOC-2 ceremony like the bollywood award shows,

Our Defence minister still sees it as a MIG-21 replacement contrary to all the protestations from our DRDO chief that it is one of the best ten ton class fighter in the world.

he could have been more careful in his choice of words, of course tejas will replace the space left behind by Mig-21s. But there is a world of difference between the tech of two fighters he should have understood a little before making such a technically illiterate statement.

The whole world will take exactly these words from our defence minister and cry forever that tejas is just a Mig-21 replacement effectively bracketing it with Mig-21 tech level and operational level.

Morons across the forums in the net and defence correspondents with vested interests all over the world will continue to ram home this absurd statement again and again.

In reality tejas mk-1 is superior to mirage-2000 in close co0mbat specs with better TWr and lower wing loading than the former with a 120 Km range BVR capability and radar tracking range capability.

tejas mk-2 will be close to Grippen NG class. then why so foolishly use the word Mig-21 replacement in the same way another airchief used the words Mig-21 ++ which already maligned the fighter,

Are they doing it knowingly or unknowingly? it is impossible people world over to not to believe these stupid statements,

Our chiefs and ministers don't rank very high on tech knowledge is known through out the nation. But international press may think that these guys are well informed and continue to equate tejas with Mig-21 obsolete tech, forever maligning it's export prospects.

Tejas an ideal replacement for MiG, says Antony - The Hindu

Speaking to the media at the grant of Initial Operational Clearance-II to the LCA MK-I, which has been designed and produced by the Aeronautical Development Agency, along with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said: "This aircraft meets the staff requirement of the IAF, and so they have accepted it."

Tejas: Twists, turns and delays - The Hindu

The home-grown fighter plane combines the best of Russian and French military aircraft

The emergence of the Light Combat Aircraft places India in a select club of nations capable of making their own fighter aircraft, said Defence Research and Development Organisation Director-General Avinash Chander, who is also Secretary, Defence Research and Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister.

"Today, the first fully indigenously designed fighter can compete with any other fighter aircraft in the world," Mr. Chander told an audience of over 1,000 engineers and scientists from the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), DRDO centres, certifying agency Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) and manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as the aircraft got its first of the two-level certifications on Friday. The plane perhaps has the best safety record of no accidents, he said.

. After receiving the Initial Operational Clearance, the IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne, who retires on December 31, said: "I would have gone home very disappointed if the IOC had not come now."

The IOC document was handed over to the IAF at the old HAL defence airport, which has been restricted to military and small private charter flights since May 2009.

The Hindu special correspondent listing out the reasons for delay in tejas program from DRDO chief-Mr. Chander said the LCA must be the only aircraft development programme where mid-course, the engine, radar, missiles and sensors were changed as per the IAF request perhaps,

So it may be entirely that Shri Rajat pandit of TOI and the Hindu special correspondent could have attended two different IOC ceremonies held for IOC-2 of tejas in two different venues,

 

[ersakthivel]

Personally, I greatly value my association with the Tejas programme since 2007; when I took over as the Deputy Chief of Air Staff. And as I prepare to hang up the uniform at this month-end, I would have gone home as a sad person; if the LCA IOC had not been achieved.

So my sincere thanks to the LCA team for making this wish come true. Having experienced the trials and tribulations of this complex programme first hand, I acknowledge the tremendous hard work put in by all players in successful culmination of the first phase.

I also would like to highlight several initiatives that were put in place in last few years to add impetus and resolve the inherent weakness of the management structure. Together with Mr Natarajan and subsequently with Dr Saraswat and now Dr Avinash Chandra, we were able to bring changes to the organisational and management echelons and this resulted in enhanced efficiency and productivity in the LCA programme.


While the nation celebrates grant of IOC to Tejas, we cannot rest on these laurels since our work is well 'cut out' for the days ahead. With the series production of 20 IOC aircraft being an immediate goal, ADA with its associated design partners and HAL have to continue steering the project steadily towards achievement of FOC standards by Dec 2014, as directed by Hon'ble RM.

It is also imperative that we establish a robust spare support supply chain for maintaining the fleet in the coming years. With the integration of new BVR missiles, integral guns and air to air refuelling capability, LCA will acquire increased potency and enhanced operational efficiency as envisaged at the FOC level.

As the programme gathers pace, we must remember that the final goal for all of us is not just the LCA Mk I, but the LCA Mk II. While our air warriors are fully geared up to induct and operationalise the two Mark I squadrons, IAF keenly looks forward to induction of four squadrons of LCA MK II as the final version in its projected force structure.

This calls for a focussed and coherent approach by all stake holders with determined efforts to overcome all existing weak areas in design and management. The two primary design drivers already identified by us are the critical GE 414 engine integration for enhanced thrust along with perhaps a better intake design and improved maintainability of the platform.

With better HMI functionality and a more efficient avionic system architecture, these design improvements promise to add to LCA's operational capabilities, as envisioned in the ASR.

Under pinning these design improvements is the immediate need to adopt efficient management structures. Although we have the most qualified and capable designers and engineers as part of our team, reluctance to change impedes our ability to make mid course corrections and steer the project away from obvious pitfalls.

The way ahead calls for close monitoring and monthly reviews at the highest levels. I therefore, urge all agencies to be ready to 'bite the bullet' and never hesitate in making tough decisions as they work towards the final induction of LCA MK II into IAF.

this is what our IAF chief said in his speech, from 2007 he is involved with the program as vice chief As per AM philip rajkumar's quptes IAF got involved in tejas only from 2006 in a serious manner. it was only after that more than 250 requests for action were raised ,


which at the end of the day culminated in making tejas mk-1 the safest and easiest to maintain with 1 hr turnaround time in between sorties ,It is great that such a co operation happened finally which gave india a truly modern fighter with all of the 4.5th gen techs.

As per ADA chief interview with Ajaishula posted in broadsword ,

IAF maintenance personnel were in the assembly line itself ,

helping to correct niggling maintenance issue ,

which may arise in future ,making significant contribution towards making it as a world class fighter.

Hope such a copoperation extends between HAL , ADA and IAF in tejas mk-2 and AMCA project also cutting out lot of delays in the process.

Also mk-1 itself can hold its own against most of the modern fighters currently in service in PAf and PLAF either in BVR combat or ground strike role or close combat once it receives FOC.

tejas mk-1 too can get an ASEA radar in upgrade making it on par with tejas mk-2 in the all crucial air to air BVR roles.

tejas mk-2 will be an improvement over that with a naval complement thrown in.The navy's requirement was the primary driver behind MK-2 , which was also preferred by IAF as it had more engine power ,

So there is no point in letting the impression gain ground that Mk-1 is under powered and not suitable for air to air or ground role on its own.

With the preliminary design to be freezed in 2014 march itself for tejas mk-2 and with all niggling issues sorted out in tejas mk-1 itself lets hope ADA and HAL achieve tejas mk-2 by 2018 as said by ADA chief Subramanium in his interview with Ajai Shukla.

 

[ersakthivel]

Tarmak007 -- A bold blog on Indian defence

So what makes Antony truly a Tejas man? In the last couple of years, Antony received maximum queries from his ministerial colleagues and flak from the media for the delay in two projects – MBT Arjun and Tejas. "

Despite all the negative publicity Tejas got, the defence minister stood by us. He never made any negative remarks on the programme. Never there was any fund crunch for Tejas, despite some objections from the Finance Ministry. He tolerated us every time we failed to deliver on time.

There were many occasions he was criticised by own cabinet colleagues," says a senior scientist, part of the Tejas project.
Team Tejas terms the developments in the last six months as most crucial.

"We missed the IOC-2 event which was earlier scheduled in September. The defence minister started separate review of Tejas, along with every major stakeholder in the programme. We could see a very personal touch to everything he did during these reviews," an official from DRDO said.

"The constant question was when he Tejas gong to come. And, what was causing the delay? And, he was aware that the IAF would never accept a fighter sacrificing the safety," he added.

Finally, it was definitely Antony's day. He even got an extra bouquet from an event management girl, who by mistake presented him with a second one, instead of giving it to the man sitting next to him.

When the Lady Luck smiles at you; grab them all!

So our defence minister A.K. Antony did a great job with the tejas team, despite the unintended slip up with the Mig-21 replacement statement,

Perhaps the drubbing he got within the cabinet and the press would have goaded him to give a deadline to all three stake holders HAL, IAF, ADA to put their head together and do the goodwork.

Such attention is very badly needed in Arjun tank program as well. Hope with tejas one out of the way he takes it up as his next priority assignment making sure IA gives an order of atleast 500 Arjun mk-2s with the same staggered IOC and FOC approach.

Kudos to the man for standing with the tejas team to achieve this milestone.

 

[ersakthivel]

Saab"s Gripen NG wins Brazil jet deal after NSA spying sours Boeing bid | idrw.org

4.5 billion dollars for 36 Grippen Ngs?????

The report also mentions additional billions of dollars are gong to flow to sweeden as a long standing spares , and upgrades,

compare it to 30 million dollar price tag IAF has for getting tejas mk-1 ,

tejas mk-2 which is considered closer to grippen NG may not cost more than 40 million dollar a piece and in future mid life upgrade India may even offer a K-10 engine to insulate it from any foreign pressure,

Also withthis deal SAAB is eyeing 26 Sea grippens that will be needed for Brazil's aircraft carrier,

http://idrw.org/?p=31114

Point to note for ADA HALand GTRE on K-10 of what lies ahead if they get their act in time,

So persistent maligning of tejas by a few journos in india and many morons on many forums on the net,

for decades completely ignoring all it's modern technical aspects

like fly by wire RSS cranked delta air frame,

all composite skin with least frontal clean config RCS,

full glass cockpit with lethal HMDS enabled high off bore WVR missile combo,


a 650 mm dia radar antenna with 32 dg gain and a radar range of well above 100 Km once FOC is done,


which makes it a true 4.5th gen fighter second to none ,

with a fraction of the price(at 30 to 40 million dollars ) commanded by other competitors

along with many influential personalities is not such a frivolous affair in the multi billion dollar fighter market,

Well there may be an ulterior motive in painting it so bad to scupper it's chances of getting any favorable look into by international buyers,

 

[sayareakd]

 

[cobra commando]

Tejas IOC movie from the hangars of HAL ADA

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iQh8fSPR-RU
The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony handed over (20 Dec 2013) the Release to Service Certificate of the country's own Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, to the Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, at a function in Bengaluru, marking the fruition of a long and difficult journey of three decades of efforts to make a fighter aircraft of international standards. Described as Initial Operational Clearance-II of Tejas, the LCA is designed to ultimately replace the Mig 21 fleet of IAF. The timing of IOC- II for LCA coincides with the iconic Mig 21 FL fighter flying into IAF's history just a week ago.

 

[Austin]

Amazing video of Tejas , Thanks for putting it up.

 

[praneetbajpaie]

At the expense of sounding like an ignorant fool (I am only anguished), how can Tejas and Dhruv be considered indigenous if most of the components including the engine are foreign?

 

[Defcon 1]

At the expense of sounding like an ignorant fool (I am only anguished), how can Tejas and Dhruv be considered indigenous if most of the components including the engine are foreign?

In Tejas, majority of the components are locally manufactured. materials, FCS, design are all Indian. majority of LRUs are Indian. Radar is partially Indian. Soon weaponry will be Indian as well. Testing and certification facilities are all Indian. manpower is all Indian. An aircraft is more than sum total of its parts.

 

[rvjpheonix]

At the expense of sounding like an ignorant fool (I am only anguished), how can Tejas and Dhruv be considered indigenous if most of the components including the engine are foreign?

Then what do you think of Gripen or even worse Gripen NG?

 

[rvjpheonix]

I guess they sped up the video from 2:07 to around 2:40. However an interesting part is before it does those maneuvers it deploys the air brakes to slow down. Never seen that before of tejas. Overall nice video! @Decklander sir can you confirm whether its sped up or normal speed?

 

[Kunal Biswas]

You have to understand the meaning of ' Indigenous ' on first place to continue ..

---------------------------

Indigenous means ' Indian Design & Made in India ' there are two parts of that one word ..

Indian Design >>
Indian design may refer to tailor made equipment as per requirement by our needs, Freedom to do changes as per our wish without involvement of third party ( In case of license production one cannot do changes without permission of the third party for example T-90S with Russia ), This is a important point which seperate it from liesce production equipment which are made from Indian raw material but not the design ..


Made In India >>
Made in India, refer to a equipment which is made from Raw material from India which is cheaper than imports and essential to be self reliant ..

==================

Without one missing one cannot say things are ' Indigenous ', Media understanding is not enough ..

As of Dhruv, Dhruv is a Indian design and some of its part are imported rest are made in India in various private industry, You should google abt Dhruv MK3 components including the engine ..

At the expense of sounding like an ignorant fool (I am only anguished), how can Tejas and Dhruv be considered indigenous if most of the components including the engine are foreign?

 

[praneetbajpaie]

Thanks guys for making me understand, I just feel we have the scientific man power to develop anything we want. After all Albert Einstein said this

Albert Einstein, American scientist: "We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made."

 

[arnabmit]

At the expense of sounding like an ignorant fool (I am only anguished), how can Tejas and Dhruv be considered indigenous if most of the components including the engine are foreign?

Because it was designed and built in India. No product on the planet uses 100% domestic manufactured/sourced components.

Gone are the days of the likes of "Model T", when Ford used to rear cows for its leather upholstery. This is a globalized age.

BTW, Shakti engine of Dhruv MkIII is Indian, with technical collaboration from Turbomeca. The same Turbomeca also collaborated with Kamov to make the engine for Ka-60. Would you not call Ka-60 a Russian helo because of that? Turbomeca also collaborated with Eurocopter for the engine of Z-15 which will be used by China.