ADA Tejas (LCA) News and Discussions

[ersakthivel]

Tejas MK-1 doesnt have many things posted above..
Engine - first test in 1978

Yhe present engine on tejas mk1 has 4 Kn more thrust than the GE engine on gripen C and a recent refinement over the older GE 404 version.
The GE-414 INS 6 is also a recent refinement not 50 year old tech.

BVR missile which one it fired ??? :O
Brahmos Mini?? Where is the missile first?? leave about ability..

When su-30 MKI was inducted there was no talk of brahmos being fitted on it. Now it has one. So why do you think that Nvay wont ask ADA to add brahmos mini on its tejas mk2 version, especially anti ship role is its main function?

Ability to evade BVR missile and get first shot in WVR?? :O against which aircraft??? MIG-21??
few things Mk-1 proved are -- RSS Platform.. Cranked Delta wing design.. few WVR missiles.. AOA and Top Speed..

You still dont understand that
proving RSS platform ,(a gripen prototype crashed while trying to prove its fly by wire software for its RSS airframe)
and firing a few WVR missiles at all angles of attack using visually cued HMDS,
proving Cranked Delta wing design.. and firing a few WVR missiles..
achieving an AOA of 24 deg in IOC itself ,
and proving a Top Speed which was higher than its 1984 spec,
is more technologically challenging than firing BVR missiles.
Radar and missile guidance interface is good . That is what is proven by R73 E missile fired using both modes HMDS and radar.

Once quartz radome is available BVR missile firing to 100 plus km range will also need the same qualifications that were validated by R73E missile firing.
For example you dont need to add a pair of canards to fire a BVR missile. Neither a new engine is needed.

I am not telling Mk-1/Mk-2 is bad design.. But never ever compare a flying aircraft with a aircraft which is flying from past 15 yrs.

Never, ever???????????? what is that?

The rafale config expected by IAF in MMRCA bid is yet to be configured and flown. SO will you ask them to cancel the tender?
Rafales F3 standard was not delivered to even french airforce with ASEA and Meteor when the MMRCA evaluation was going on.
In fact the IAF MMRCA guys accepted in recent Vayu stratpost that they saw the Rafale ASEA radar only in labs!!!
And they would not have seen a HMDS enabled rafale even in a lab.
And rafale was not designed to carry brahmos mini from inception either.
We all know brahmos mini is one of the world's best ground strike weapons.
So can you justify IAF rafale buy with out rafale being proven with brahmos mini?


The gripen E was the same evolution from gripen C that is being configured for tejas mk2 from mk1 tech.

Did gripen E perform poorer than Gripen C?

Why did IAF evaluate Gripen E which had nothing but two developmental demonstrator in its MMRCA contract with no firm date prospects for IOC and FOC?
In fact one IAF chief who said that tejas was mig-21 ++ was grinning from ear to ear in praise of gripen E on his visit to sweeden.
Do you think he is a fool to say gripen E which has not got IOC and FOC as excellent?

You simply dont know enough to say,"I am not telling Mk-1/Mk-2 is bad design.. But never ever compare a flying aircraft with a aircraft which is flying from past 15 yrs."

.

Tejas Mk-2 proved all these capabilities ?? :shocked: :shocked: hufff... ADA guys designing Mk-2 on a gaming console it seems . funniest thing is this line..

16.Ability to fire ramjets 120 Km range missiles like meteor with an ASEA radar that can track long enough,

This same guy one day asked me for a link to support Rafale's ability to fire meteor..

IAF is willing to pay 20 billion dollar for a fighter which does not have a BVR missile of more than 60 Km right now.

Tejas is designed as per IAF wish and its wings along with pylon capacity was upgraded as recently in 2004 to carry heavier missiles.

SO there is no reason to believe that tejas can not fire 120 KM range BVR as from the inception itself it was planned to carry Astra which even in mk1 has 80 KM range.

First try to Google and learn something about what is envelope expansion before adding stuff like :shocked: :shocked:

and posting pearls of wisdom like "ADA guys designing Mk-2 on a gaming console it seems . funniest thing is this line.. "

The gripen E was the same evolution from gripen C that is being configured for tejas mk2 from mk1 tech.

Did gripen E perform poorer than Gripen C?

Why did IAF evaluate Gripen E which had nothing but two developmental demonstrator in its MMRCA contract with no firm date prospects for IOC and FOC?
In fact one IAF chief who said that tejas was mig-21 ++ was grinning from ear to ear in praise of gripen E on his visit to sweeden.

Do you think he is a fool to say gripen E which has not got IOC and FOC as excellent?

As tejas mk2 is in design phase now ADA chief himself has said it will be designed with interfaces to fire Meteor in his interview to Ajai Shukla.

SO I am not posting BS.

When MMRCA evaluation was going on none of the 20 billion fighters have integrated Meteor. When IAF had the faith to shell out 20 billion with hope that the MNCs will integrate Meteor with MMRCA birds,

Why doubts are being raised on Tejas's ability to fire 120 Km range BVR missile?

Once the Quartz radome replaces composite Tejas radome the 120 Km tracking range will be available for even Tejas mk1's Hybrid 2032 radar.

 

[ersakthivel]

IAF concerned over delays in product delivery | idrw.org
Create an aeronautics commission: R K Tyagi | idrw.org

Great News and a timely one...salient factors :

1) IAF is worried over delays since HAL has nt delivered the SP's till date.

2) Interestingly HAL chief's comment regarding setting up of Indian Aeronautics Commission (IAC) is a reflection on the Subramanium Committees' recommendation which proposed a National Aeronautical Commission but the GoI has for reasons unknown been historically against it..... I hope and pray the present GoI under Modi looks at this afresh.

3) Another good move and a long pending one is a senior IAF officer will be a permanent feature on the HAL board - MoD should be complimented !

4) The said Indian Aeronautical Commission shall be on the lines of Space Commission and its job will be to synergise indegineous efforts, greater cohesion and create greater understanding and speeding up decision making. In short the IAC will be a bridge between the End User (IAF) and the Arms Designer/ Manufacturer (DRDO/HAL) with IAF providing inputs from conceptual stage itself.

I think one of the IAF's secret grouse is that they were nt involved with either DRDO / HAL right from the designing phase has been a major reason behind the Tejas drama.

Until Navy committed 1000 cr fior Tejas mk2 development IAF was not ready to part with a single rupee for tejas. Neither did take any meaningful part from 2001 to 2006.

If they set aside a few thousand crore earlier and asked the government to ramp up man power and infra in HAL and ADA for tejas program , some of the delays could have been avoided.

If you give order for 20 MK1 and 118 Arjun mk2 which private sector industry will sink its hard earned project in hobby horse ventures , with guaranteed wipe out of capital after the small order is exhausted?

Lets hops Modi govt sets right many mistakes made in the past. and go for an institutionalized phased development of indigenous hardware rather than indulging in never ending mutual blame game.

http://idrw.org/?p=42986#more-42986

Here DRDO chief says that china spends 15 times more on defence R&D. It was only after a decade , GOI has accepted DRDO's demand of raising its budget to 7 percent of defence budget, that too after modi came to power,
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-10-17/news/30289904_1_mbda-missile-system-iaf

The MBDA has also offered its MICA and Meteor missiles to the IAF and said that they can be integrated with various types of aircraft operating in the IAF.

Tell me what are the various type of aircrafts and why we can not include tejas mk2 in it.

 

[sgarg]

I agree with you that defence R&D budget is too low in India. Also big private players must be given full product development projects as they have the manufacturing capacity. The civilian factories can be utilized for defence products in a lot of cases.

LCA problem has been same as Arjun - stonewalling by defence forces. It is not just R&D. Things cannot happen until appropriate amount of funds are pumped in. You throw peanuts, you get monkeys.

 

[Santu]

It's a typo.. What i mean is never compare an aircraft on design board (or probably just out of design phase) with aircraft which is flying from 15yrs.. Yes what ever you mentioned are for sure really good capabilities but they are yet to prove.. May be after after 5yrs we will come to know the capabilities completely as IAF will explore the aircraft properly..

First let Mk-2 get inducted.. Then Let it beat rafale on head-on-head in IAF fighting simulations.. Till then what ever you tell no one gonna accept it blindly. Battle field is best place to judge any machines's capability.

 

[ersakthivel]

It's a typo.. What i mean is never compare an aircraft on design board (or probably just out of design phase) with aircraft which is flying from 15yrs.. Yes what ever you mentioned are for sure really good capabilities but they are yet to prove.. May be after after 5yrs we will come to know the capabilities completely as IAF will explore the aircraft properly..

Tell that to aerodynamic novices , not to guys who know something about aerodynamic principles.
capabilities of any fighter air craft is designed into it. It is not to be found ,"after a soul searching of the fighter by IAF"

First let Mk-2 get inducted.. Then Let it beat rafale on head-on-head in IAF fighting simulations.. Till then what ever you tell no one gonna accept it blindly. Battle field is best place to judge any machines's capability.

For the cost of one rafale we can get 3 to four tejas mk2.

First ask the dassault if rafale can win in 1:4 fight even with tejas mk1 before talking about tejas mk2.

 

[ersakthivel]

How AK Antony damaged the soul of the Army

While Manmohan Singh's personality in the psychological context of the Indians was a perfect veneer for pliability, criminal collusion and subversion of the spirit of Indian Constitution, Antony's assiduously acquired 'clean image' came in handy for 'powers that be' to subvert and wreck the Indian Armed Forces from within.

It may be reiterated here that Manmohan Singh in no sense was an elected Prime Minister and therefore his writ did not extend to picking up his own defence minister. The Prime Minister and the defence minister were picked up by the same authority and for same considerations, the least of all 'integrity'.

In fact, integrity and incorruptibility, financial and moral, were two biggest disqualifications in the previous regime.If Manmohan Singh delivered to his political benefactor and mentor by way of CWG, Coal and 2G; Antony did not lag behind. Never before in the history of India, the three services were targeted the manner in which it was done during Antony's stewardship of the MoD. Never in independent India, had the arms lobby become so brazen and criminal that it dared to manipulate 'chain of succession' of service chiefs.

The Indian Army was deliberately dragged into controversy by fabricating age related issue in respect of an Army Chief. Mr Antony vouched for the integrity of this Army Chief when he reported the Tatra scam to him. When the age issue came up in the Supreme Court, the government of which Mr Antony was a part, submitted an affidavit to the honourable bench, testifying the integrity of the concerned Army Chief.

If the Army Chief was a man of integrity, then Mr Antony must answer as to why did he re-elicit the opinion of the Law Ministry, when it had categorically ruled in favour of the Army Chief. The common buzz is that it was done at the behest of someone, to whom Mr Antony owed his office.The next in the line was Indian Air Force. Once the VVIP Chopper scam was reported from a foreign soil, as is invariably the case, a former Air Chief was made the scapegoat for allegedly being recipient of kick-backs.

The primary fault of this Air Chief was that as demanded, he had given his 'opinion' on the requisite operational parameters for procurement of VVIP Chopper. Even say, this Air Chief was guilty in the reckoning of Mr Antony for having allegedly received a small fraction of the kick-backs, the Defence Minister should have been worried as to who were the major recipients of public money. On this account both the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister were silent, because their puppeteer was in the grave shadow of doubt!

Now was the turn of Indian Navy. More than dozen accidents in a matter of months! It included two submarines. Many serving and retired Naval Officers asserted that the accidents were result of age related problems of the naval inventory. After every accident, the Naval Chief was put under-pressure. Finally, the powers that be succeeded. The Navy Chief resigned.

The desired person was put in Office. Such was the force and osmosis of this new Naval Chief that all age related problems of the inventory have mended without intervention and there have been no accidents thereafter. Very poor script Mr Antony! You and your patron indeed think very poorly of the intelligence of Indians and integrity of people in uniform.

Sadly there were some high ranking personnel in uniform to oblige the designs of your benefactors and the arms lobby. Subversion and sabotage by the arms lobby could not have acquired this new high, but for the indulgence of the dispensation. It was during the decade of the UPA rule that the notorious 'Chandigarh Gang' surfaced as the mainstay of the international arms lobby.

This gang is not necessarily in Chandigarh alone, but nevertheless is centered around it. It comprises some retired Officers, politicians, journalists and prominent newspapers. One of these newspapers, particularly one journalist was on an overdrive during the 'age-row' of the then Army Chief. It had gone to the extent of getting hysterical. Its obsession with General VK Singh continues. Another newspaper of the same ilk, carried the 'coup story' and a full page advertisement on 'Tatra' in the same issue.

The same very 'Chandigarh Gang' has been in the forefront of hyping the Chinese threat and disparaging the DRDO, all at the behest of the arms lobby. The media houses that are the part of this lobby, inconformity with the imperatives of the international arms manufacturers, from time to time bombards the audiences with 'Chinese here, Chinese there and Chinese everywhere' stories. Patriotic citizens should rather rely on the version of the Indian Army on these stories, then being misled by some of the unscrupulous media houses. Heading this 'Chandigarh Gang' was none other than the illustrious colleague of Mr Antony, who it is believed that was desperate to see through a 'succession plan' in the Indian Army.

It is also believed that it was he who prevailed on Mr Antony to re-obtain the opinion of the Law Ministry on the age issue of the said Army Chief.Threat analysis should be a major concern and responsibility of a defence minister. Mr Antony allowed the MoD to be hijacked on this issue. He equally shares the blame for India's sell out at Sharm-el-Sheikh.

As a result of Indo-US nuclear deal, he is equally responsible for degrading India's indigenous nuclear quest by slowing down the process of 'fast breeder reactor' and the 'thorium route'. If there are three ends to the spectrum of warfare, i.e. sub-conventional, conventional, and nuclear, then the entire gamut should be the concern of a defence minister.

If a prime minister is hysterical about only one end of this spectrum, then the motivations are not nationalistic. At the conventional level, Mr Antony did not allow one major arms acquisition even in the face of pernicious security imperatives on one pretext or the other. Indian security became a victim of the murderous internecine rivalry of the various arms lobbies.

At the sub-conventional or proxy war end of the spectrum, the defence minister allowed India's bargaining position to be neutralized vis-à-vis Pakistan by allowing the 'Chandigarh Gang' to implicate Col Purohit for Malegaon and Samjhauta blasts at the behest of international lobbies. The specter of 'Hindu terror' was drummed up by the media of the same 'Chandigarh Gang'. When the Army Court of Inquiry absolved this Officer, the least the defence minister should have done is to honourably reinstate him. This is bound to recoil as one of the biggest scams involving highest levels of the country. An unpardonable act on the part of the defence minister was to acquiesce to the machinations by the arms lobby for inquiry on the Technical Support Group (TSG) to kill the political prospects of Gen VK Singh.

The TSG raised for acquiring operational and tactical intelligence in the wake of 26/11. Those who are in the know of the splendid achievements of TSG, very much doubt the patriotism of the characters who questioned the functioning of the organization in order to pander anti-nationals in the Kashmir Valley and their Pakistani benefactors.

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Now we know why some sections of "eggsperts in defence media" are engaging constant mudslinging on indigenous projects like tejas and Arjun

 

[sgarg]

Any idea why SP-1 not delivered? Or the delivery is to happen for SP-1 to SP-4 together?

 

[ersakthivel]

Does the LCA program make sense? [Archive] - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums

karna's post from above link.

Technologies developed and Spin offs

The LCA project has resulted in the indigenous development of a vast number of technologies. There are major advances in all the major ADA sectors. The advances are briefly presented in a table below [48,51,52,54,55,62,63,66]:

Area of R&D
Outline of advances made in the field

Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics
CFD codes, various aspects of wind tunnel testing, development of Control Law, and control law simulation and testing facility, use of supercomputer to attack various aerodynamics issues, Finite Element Method codes, Aero Elasticity Studies.

Airframe including Carbon Fiber Composite {CFC) Wing and Fin
Precision machining of special metals like Titanium (challenging), Aluminum, Composites manufacture and machining, Carbon Disc brakes.

Propulsion System
Engine Design work at GTRE, design and manufacture of very high reliability sub-components like fan-blades, casings etc, for the Kaveri, JFS, Hydro-mechanical parts, Engine Control Unit, Nozzle Control Unit [51].

Mechanical General Systems and Manufacturing.
Landing gear, Brake Systems, AMAGB, Brake Parachutes , CAD-CAM software, Environmental Control Systems, Application software for Distributed Numerical Control, software to improve control over CNC instruments.

Flight Control System
Control Software, Iron Bird testing facility, Mini Bird, Cockpit Controls, Actuators and other components of Digital Flight Control System and computer [52].

Avionics and Electrical Systems
Design of Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC), LCD, Antennae, Testing facilities like DAIR, Communication Equipment, Control and Coding Unit, IFF, Various cockpit systems and simulators, Mission Computer, Lightning test facility, Multi-Mode Radar.

Quality Assurance and System Effectiveness
Several quality assurance programs like Failure Mode Effect and Criticality analysis, Fault Tree Analysis, `Walk through check lists' etc"¦ were implemented [53]. Software like C-SCAN was developed to deal with QC issues in composites [54], Software Test Plan based on DOD standard.

Ground and Flight Testing
Flight test facility and equipment, testing during ground run, fast and slow speed tests,


The detailed list of technologies developed and their applications may be found in the Appendix I.

Private Sector Participation

The LCA project has managed to secure considerable amounts of participation from the private sector. This participation falls into three broad areas; manufacturing of pre-designed components (moulds, tools, jigs, etc"¦)[56] and special purpose tools [57], software development [58] and advanced machining products (aerospace grade Line Replaceable Units (LRU))[59].

Some of these companies existed before the LCA project but a fair number are new. Almost all of these companies have had to expand their capabilities and take on serious financial liabilities because of the LCA project. A large number (approximately 300) of small and medium-scale units are involved in mechanical production. These units are heavily invested in the LCA project as it stands today and will suffer enormous hardships if the project is summarily cancelled. Many of these companies are in a position to exploit spin-off technologies and will at the very least be able to assert a presence in the aerospace market.

The software companies have been able to combine their participation in the LCA to enter into very high-end markets like embedded systems, ultra-stable code development, and computational fluid dynamics calculations. Some software companies have used their LCA experience to build up manpower and then moved into more lucrative businesses like e-commerce. This has added to growing presence of Indian companies in the world software market.

Small and Medium-scale manufacturing units have been able to upgrade manufacturing setups so as to meet the requirements imposed by certifying bodies such as DGAQA and CEMILAC. This has spawned ancillary industry as some of these companies outsource their initial requirements and focus on meeting aerospace tolerances and quality guidelines. This has provided employment for highly skilled craftsmen. We present a list of private companies involved in the LCA project in Appendix II.

Limitations

It has to be noted that this article draws data from various public sources of information. It represents an open literature analysis of what is known thus far about the LCA program and its comparators. While the real costs of development, ownership and operating such platforms are very important in economic analysis, it must be noted that such data is very difficult to come by. Additionally, it was observed that the utility of the various platforms could only be gauged with time. Hence it is provides an inkling about the benchmarks that the LCA needs to meet in order to prove its effectiveness over its life cycle.

Conclusions

The LCA project represents a considerable investment in advanced infrastructure relating to the crucial aviation industry. Subsequent to the flight of the TD-1, at least some of the R&D effort supported by this investment has met with visible success. A large portion of the investment so far has gone into development of a base of research and academic institutions vital to foster a sustained presence in this in this field.

At the present time it is possible to estimate the unit cost of the LCA and the measures of effectiveness for evaluating multi-role aircraft. However the absence of a production version of the LCA precludes the possibility of a computation of cost-effectiveness quotients. Critics of the project must accept the fact that our specific requirements on cost and performance are not met by platforms currently available on the market and that superficial comparisons of effectiveness of the LCA with other `international standards' are utterly meaningless at the present time. These factors increase the need to encourage and sustain the development of platforms specifically designed to perform in the Indian context. In the LCA project Indian R&D institutions and manufacturers have once more demonstrated their ability to overcome the initial lack of a technological base. This feat merits the highest commendation.

It is also important to take note of the growth fostered in certain industrial sectors. This is a very positive in economic terms as it moves us one step closer to improving the competitiveness of our industry and moreover reduces the impact of defense purchases on foreign exchange reserves. If the manufacturers are indeed able to exploit spin-offs and affect a stronger showing in the aviation market, then we could see real long-term prosperity in certain parts of India. The authors also recommend that stronger measures be taken at the earliest possible to transfer more technology to industry and specific economic incentives be offered to private sector companies to participate in the LCA project. Even if the LCA does exceed the present estimated unit cost, the funds will end up being dispersed within the country and will boost local industry.

At this stage in the project several critical subsystems are poised to reach completion. This is a reason to continue funding the project. If a decision is made to curtail project funding now, a fair bit of the progress to date will be lost as talented manpower will leave the company and several private companies involved in the project will suffer enormous losses [4].

Given the complexity of the LCA platform and the fact that this is a first attempt, it is also likely that there may be a few setbacks in the months to come. This is quite common with such projects. The authors feel that these setbacks should be faced with courage and every effort to realize the full potential of the LCA must be strongly supported.

Appendix I: Technologies developed and Spin offs

Next we briefly profile the technologies developed for this project, the agency, and the possible spin-offs (we apologize for any that we may have missed).

AGENCY
IMMEDIATE APPLICATION TO PROJECT
SPIN-OFFS AND/OR MARKET POTENTIAL

ADA: Aeronautical Development Agency: Computer Aided Design [62]
Autolay Software: used to design LCA.
ADA had tied up with Computervision, the largest CAD/CAM company in the world, for marketing Autolay, following which the Airbus Industrie had evinced a keen interest in the product

ADA: Aircraft Systems Maintenance Simulator [63]

Designed in collaboration with IIT Bombay and Tata Consulting.
Simulator for LCA maintenance.
A Maintenance simulator was designed for Mig 29 a/c. This was used to train IAF and Royal Malaysian AF personnel in India.

ADA: Flow Simulation
The CFD group uses a suite of CFD software developed in Indian institutions under projects
sponsored by ADA or developed in-house. Present capability is a simulation of transonic
flight of LCA with stores.
CFD has very broad applications. The transonic field integral method can be used for highly complicated geometry with moderate computing resources.

ADA [64]: GITA
Graphical Interactive Three dimensional Analysis software, LCA Design.
Technology Associates Inc of US and Boeing use it for CAD\CAM application

ADA [65]: Prana
Virtual Reality software for CAD applications. A prototype can now be readied through virtual reality in nearly half the time it takes for a physical prototype. VR technology would be used for the first time in the Indian aircraft industry for the LCA.
This software can be used in the automobile, shipbuilding and aero industries. ADA is on the lookout for a marketing tie-up. Many DRDO labs and corporate groups such as TVS and Mahindra and Mahindra have already expressed interest in it.

ADA
Design of LRU for Hydraulic, Fuel and Environmental Control Systems. Actual Manufacture is outsourced. C-SPAN implementation for detecting flaws in Composites with cooperation of CAIR and VIVASONICS.
The local manufacturers have been able to build up confidence in producing aviation grade components

ADE: Aeronautical Development Establishment (DRDO)[62]
Engineering Test Station for integration of hardware and software of DFCS

ADE (DRDO) [62]
Dynamic Avionics Integration Rig: to test LCA avionics

ADE (DRDO) [62]
Indigenous Real Time Simulator for testing LCA Control Law (CLAW)

ADE (DRDO) [63]
Bread board model of Display Processor

ADRDE (DRDO) [66]
Brake Parachute and Spin Parachute. Tested at IISC and Terminal Ballistic Research Lab (TBRL)
Parachute imports for some platforms are of a low quality, this could find application there.

ASEIO (DRDO)
EW equipment, Mission Computer, Standby UHF link.

ARDE (DRDO) [67]
Ejection system for LCA, this includes a combination of ejection seat and canopy release system.
This product has been tested and certified by the Martin Baker Corp. of UK. This system can be re-used on any subsequent platform.

BARC: Bhabha Atomic Research Center: Computer Division[68]
ANUPAM-860/16 Node parallel processor, used for CFD work related to LCA engine intakes
Other versions of ANUPAM/16 Node (ex. ANUPAM-Pentium/16) are under development. This is a significant contribution to evolving field of Parallel Processing applications.

At that time ANUPAM was india's most powerful computer a BARC. And CFD studies for tejas air intake was conducted on the computer for more than one month. What is fascinating is "Ducksperts like Prodyut das " say that this intake is too small and chokes!!! without knowing a shit about how it was designed!!!

BEL Bangalore
LCDs, Populated PCBs of the Flight Control Computer. This unit played a crucial role in overcoming the setbacks of the sanctions.

BHPV Bharat Heavy Plates & Vessels Ltd. Vizag:
Heat Exchanger for environmental unit.

BHEL Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. Corporate R&D,
Pump Motor for Radar Cooling

BHEL Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, MHD Centre Trichy
ECS test facility

BHEL Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. Ramachandrapuram, Hyderabad
Brake Dynamometer

CAIR: Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics: Control Systems Group [69]
Part of National Flight Control Law Team, work relates to control systems

CAIR: Robotics Group [69]
Gantry robot and supplied it to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for LCA wing inspection

CDAC
LCA simulators

Central Electro Chemical Research Institute, Karaikudi
Development of Cd. plating for maraging steel (Grade-250)

Central Institute of Tool Design, Hyderabad
Tooling and machining of precision parts

COMPROC: Composite Production Center (DRDO)
Composites for LCA
Composites for other defense applications.

CSIO(CSIR)
Heads Up Display for LCA

CMTI bangalore.
Manufacturing of LCA parts and machinery. Testing of Filter Elements and Development of Filter test rigs

CVRDE: Central Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (DRDO) [62]
AMAGB: Aircraft Mounted Accessories Gear Box

CVRDE: [62]
Hydraulic Filters designed by ADA.

DEBEL (DRDO):
Pilot's personal systems, onboard oxygen generating system (OBOGS).

DRDL (DRDO):
Radome for MMR, Carbon Brake discs for LCA, Control and Coding Unit (CCU). The MMR Radome required indigenous production of Kevlar Socks and Low loss polyester resin.

DEAL (DRDO)
Communication Radio and Data link.

DMRL (DRDO):
Rotor and starter casting for Jet Fuel Starter, Heat exchangers for environmental unit.

DLRL (DRDO)
EW equipment

DSIC
Digital Engine Control Unit
Used with GEF404 now, but will eventually end up being used with GTX-35VS.

ER&DC
LCA simulators

ERDL
Canopy Severance System [70]

ECIL Hyderbad
Materials for LCA

Government Tool Room & Training Centre, Bangalore & Mysore
Machining & Assembly of Precision Valves

GTRE Bangalore:
Kaveri engine (GTX-35VS) and testing of sub-systems like ECS, FADEC etc"¦
This technology will spawn other engine designs.

HAL: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (Hyderabad)
Integrated Communication Equipment (INCOM), MMR, Electronic Controllers, IFF Transponder, Audio Management Unit, Radio Altimeter, Utility Management System
Various items can be installed on other platforms.

HAL Lucknow Division (LD)




Wheels and Brakes, Hydraulics LRUs, Environmental LRUs, Fuel Gauging Probes, U/C Actuator Jacks, FADEC & KADECS Hydromechanical units for engine control, Engine Nozzle Control system, Electronic Control of ECS and Fuel Monitoring, Airbrake Actuator, Utility Management System, Electrical LRUs AC Master Box, DC Master Box, Static Inverter and Rectifying Unit, Ground Power Protection Unit, Design of LRU for Cold Air Unit, Accumulators, operating jacks.

HAL-Korwa:
Crash Data recorder

HAL-Engine Design Bureau:
Jet Fuel Starter for the LCA. This device is crucial to deciding the environments where the LCA is deployed. It has been tested at high altitudes to ensure operation in places like Leh AFB.

HAL-Nasik (this is Mig 21 building factory)
Standard Parts

HAL-Aircraft Design Bureau (ADB)
Microprocessor controlled Brake Management System, Canopy and bubble.
HAL-ADB has produced this for other aircraft like the Airbus A300.

HAL-ADB
1200 L Drop Tank for LCA, these were tested for resistance to small arms at TBRL

HAL-ADB
Dynamometer Test Rig for testing the Brake Management System
This can be used to test BMS for other platforms as well

HERL (DRDO)
Miniature Detonation cord for LCA canopy ejection.

Hindustan Springs, Mysore Springs
Hydraulic & Fuel System LRUs

HMT, Bangalore
Nose Box assembly jig.

HVF Avadi,
Manufacturing of LCA parts and machinery.

IICT Indian Institute of Chemical Technology
Development of Low Loss Polyester resin for MMR matrix material.

IISc Indian Institute of Science
Lightning Test Facility, Explosive Atmosphere Testing, and consultancy on a host of other projects.

IIT: Indian Institutes of technology
Involved in consultancy in several project relating to software development, aerodynamics design etc"¦

IPCL Baroda
Materials for LCA manufacture.

Kerala High Tech
Radar Cooling system, Valves for OBOGS (Check Valves, Solenoid Valves and Temperature Control Valves)

LEOS(ISRO) Lab for Electro Optic System
Tri-axial miniature Magnetometer

LRDE: Electronics Research and Development Establishment (DRDO) [62]
Avionics for LCA. Video Switching Unit (VSU), Centralized Warning Panel (CWP), and Ground Checkout System (GCS) [71].
These are systems used in almost all modern day a/c. The GCS offers an extremely convenient way of evaluating the DFCS and other LRUs from a mobile trolley.

LRDE (DRDO)
Antenna and processor for MMR

MIDHANI Hyderabad
Materials for LCA (ferrous and non ferrous alloys).

MTRDC(DRDO)
TWT for MMR

NAL: National Aeronautics Laboratory: Systems Analysis Group: Dr. A. Pedar [69].
Ada software used to design LCA, efforts have focused on identifying the most reliable software subset.
Software can be used on other design codes as well once reliability is known.

NAL: Composites Materials Division, part of CFC National Team [62].
Composites and technology of co-bonded and co-cured construction for LCA wing, and rudder/fin.
Applications to other a/c also exist ex. SARAS under development at NAL is a full a/c made fully of CFC.

NAL: Flow Simulation (Dr Anand Kumar) [72]
Software developed to examine vortex formation at tip of delta wing. A fair amount of simulation has taken place on the NAL FLOSOLVER and the SUPERSOLVER (collaboration with Tata-Elxsi); indigenous parallel computers built in Bangalore with available components. This machine has evolved in the project started in 1986 on the
development of indigenous parallel high performance computer
This work has found application in a study on modeling and simulation of aircraft wake carried out by NAL under a project awarded by the Civil Aviation Authority of UK on the basis of a global tender. The software developed at NAL is designed to enhance the capacity of busy civilian airports by simulating realistically the wake vortices of the leading aircraft; which could have adverse effect on the following aircraft.

NAL & BHEL(Tiruchi)

NALTECH (Commercial Promotions of NAL technology) [73]
Largest computer controlled Autoclave facility measuring 4 m diameter x 8 m length, and costing around Rs. 7 Crores has been custom built for the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), to cure composites.
Applications exist for other CFC bonding and manufacturing areas. NALTECH perceives applications in other areas of autoclave technology.

NAL [64]
Parallel Processing codes developed for various applications in LCA design
Molecular Dynamics code was parallelized and sold to Hitachi.

NAL
FEPACK: Analysis of Structures in LCA
Sold to domestic companies.

NAL
NTAF (National Transonic Aerodynamic Facility) used for LCA design.
Applications exist for other strategic projects.

NAL[74]
Carbon fibre Epoxy Prepregs: popular 'building blocks' in composite product development. NAL, with support from TIFAC and ADA has developed aerospace grade carbon fibre prepregs
Technology has been transferred to IPCL Vadodara.

NAL
AAVRITA a Comprehensive Fortran Software Package 'AAVRITA', for the electromagnetic (EM) design and analysis of radomes.
Radar design applications such as MMR.

NFC Hyderabad
Materials for LCA.

Ordinance Factory- Medak
Manufacturing of LCA parts and machinery.

OF Ambhazhari,
Al-Alloy-L77 for LCA extrusions
This removes the need to import Al-Cu alloys.

PSG College Coimbatore
Manufacturing of LCA parts and machinery.

RCI Hyderabad
CCU, actuators

SAMEER (DOE)
Antenna for communication equipment.

VSSC(ISRO) Trivandrum:
Actuator of Flight Control System




Appendix II: List of Private Companies, their immediate contributions and the possible spin-offs.

We have tried to present immediate contributions and possible spin-offs based on various sources. This is by no means an exhaustive list and we apologize for any mistakes.

COMPANY (ADDRESS)
IMMEDIATE CONTRIBUTION TO PROJECT
SPIN-OFFS AND/OR MARKET POTENTIAL

Ailga Rubber Works, Nagpur
Bought out items

Ajay Sensors & Instruments, Bangalore
Design and fabrication of manual control unit for ECS test battery

ASML, Bangalore
Simulator/Simulation.

Accord S/W & Systems, Bangalore
S/W

BALCO
Aluminum extrusions.

Bangalore Rubber Industries, Bangalore
Rubber Seals for Liquid Colling System of Radar

BASHI Aerospace, Hyderabad
LRUs and composite drop tanks.
Bashi has indigenously manufactured various items from valves to pilot static test rigs and they also make ground-testing equipment of components and aircraft parts.

Bhaskara Dynamiks, Bangalore
Attitude test rig for AMAGB

Compupatterns
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

CSM Software, Bangalore
Component analysis, failure mode analysis
This company also supplies to other defense projects. Defense and Aerospace are a large portion (~40%) of the companies assets [75].

Data Patterns, Chennai,
Testing of LCA avionics subsystems.
Company has potential applications in other projects Jaguar, MiG, ALH, PSLV and GSLV [75].

DCM Data Products, Delhi
S/W development

Eastern Engineering Company
Special Purpose Machine Tools
This company has a large product list, more information may be found at their website http://www.eastern-engineering.com/mfg.htm.

Firth India, Nagpur
Materials

Gururaja Engineering Works
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

High Energy Systems, Trichy
(NiCd battery)

Horseman India, Pune
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

Hyderabad Orthographic Engg
Electroselctros/Relief Valve,

INDAL.
Materials

Indfos Industries Ltd, New Delhi
Development of Hydro-mobile trolley for Ground Testing

India Machine Tools
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

JAI Sales Corportion, Bangalore
DC Power transient simulator, Universal test system

Janapriya Tools, Hyderabad
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

JINDAL
Materials extrusions for Al-Cu parts

JS lamps, Faizabad
LCA lamps

JV Tools, Hyderabad
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

Kanti Industry, Bangalore
Precision CNC Manufacturing

Karnataka Erectors, Bangalore
Fabrication of Combined Performance Test Rig (CVRDE) and Wheel Roll Test Rig (HAL-LD)

Khalsa Engineering Works, Kanpur
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

Kobayashi, Hyderabad
Machining of Precision Components

Kumaran Industries, Bangalore
Supplies all the metallic wing components, landing gear parts, critical fuselage parts and fin fittings, (~100 products). It also supplies 180 parts, including compressor shaft, compressor casing, and compressor blades, for the Kaveri engine.
It also manufactures about 250 parts for the Saras, a light plane developed by HAL and National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL). Parts include wing components, vertical tail, horizontal stabiliser, rear fuselage and door. For more information contact [email protected]

Kuvarp Industries, Bangalore
Development of Vulcanised Fuel system items

Lakshmi Patterns Works, Chennai (LPW)
Development of tooling for AMAGB castings and Pump castings for Radar Cooling

L&T, Bangalore.
Precision CNC Manufacturing

Microcon Instruments & Systems Ltd. Bangalore
PC based ECS simulator and Controller emulator DAS for Attitude Test Rig of AMAGB

Minitech, Bangalore
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

MTAR Machine Tool Aids & Reconditioning, Hyderabad.
LRUs Manufacture and Precision Tools.

Mobile Access Positioning (P) Ltd.,
15/A, Electronics City,
Bangalore - 561 229.
India.
Work related to Ground Checkout System (GCS), Coding and Control Unit (CCU), Mission Preparation and Retrieval Unit (MPRU), and Mission Computer Test Station (MCTS), Mission Computer (MC), Display Processor Test Station (DPTS), Digital Engine Control Unit (DECU)
This company has branched out into several product lines relating to positioning and tracking systems and embedded systems. It's website may be found at http://www.emapnav.com/html/home.htm

A list of customers may be found at http://www.emapnav.com/html/customers.htm

Manjira Machine Builders, Hyderabad
Machine tools for LCA manufacture

Neonwires, Pune.
Bought out items

OMC, Hyderabad.
Simulator/Simulation

PEECO, Calcutta
Tools Moulds and Fixtures

Pratibha Industries Bangalore
Tools Moulds and Fixtures

Process Wire.
S/W development

Ramsoft Technologies (domestic branch of Fusion Software Engineering)
4/1, "Deviah Court", 22nd Cross
8th Main, 3rd Block, Jayanagar
Bangalore - 560 011. India Tel: +91-80-8521191/92
Fax: +91-80-8521193
[email protected]
Software design and development relating to the Mission Computer and other embedded systems with ASIEO and LRDE.
Company has diversified into several areas in embedded systems. More information about tis projects and clients can be found at Ramsoft Technologies :: Home

Rashmi Tools, Hyderabad
Tools Moulds and Fixtures

Raghu Vamshi Engineering Services Hyderabad
Tools Moulds and Fixtures

RK Engineering Industries
Tools Moulds and Fixtures

Roshine Autoelectricals Ltd
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

Sanghvi Aerospace, Ahmedabad

SASMIRA Bombay
Design of spindles and weaving technology for Kevlar Socks needed to make MMR

Shanthi Gears Ltd, Coimbatire

LCA accessory gear boxes.
Shanti Gears has made, gears for ALH, Chetak, Lancer, screw jacks for nuclear projects, and custom-made gear boxes for testing battle tanks. email: [email protected], [email protected]
Home page: www.shantigears.com

Sheeba Computers
S/W development

Silicon Graphics, Delhi
Simulator/Simulation VRML for CAD
This is the beginnings of VRML based design in India.

Sujan industries, Mumbai
Rubber components LCA K-seal
email: [email protected]

Southern Electronics, Bangalore
Fire detection and warning

Sujana Bangalore
S/W Development

System Controls

(Bangalore)
Air Data Test System (ADTS)
This company offers a variety of Avionics products, details may be found at their website http://www.system-controls.com/index.html and they have also recently moved into e-commerce

Tata Elxi, bangalore
Simulator/Simulation for Maintenance Operations.

Titanium Tantalum Products, Chennai
take-off engine gear shafts and indigenised a number of LCA components through GTRE
Company has built gun blast tubes based on samples given by HAL and is the only unit in the world who can make 5-tonne magnesium alloy casting which tests engine vibration and monitors corrosion rate.

Trabha Machineries, Bangalore
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

Triveni Hi-Tech Pvt. Ltd

[email protected], [email protected]
Manufacturers of Aircraft, Aero engine components and sub assemblies.
LCA combustion liner The company has supplied tig-welded rings for the LCA's Kaveri engine.
Triveni Hi-Tech has reverse-engineered scarce parts of Mi helicopters and the MiG-21. It caters exclusively to machining needs of defense-related undertakings. Pratt & Whitney approves this company for engine related work.

Turbotech, Bangalore
Uplock 3 Types

Unnathi Corp, Ahmedabad
Trial weaving of Carbon Fibre cloth.

Vishnu Forge
Steel Forgings

Vision Labs, Hyderabad
Simulator/Simulation.

Vivasonics, Hyderabad
Portable C-SPAN equipment for detecting flaws in Composites
Useful in other quality CFC manufactures.

Venkateshwara Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Industries.
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

Vizarya Gauges and Equipments
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

Walchand Industries
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

WIDIA, Bangalore
C-SPAN equipment for detecting flaws in composites.
Useful in other quality CFC manufactures.

WIPRO Bangalore.
S/W Development

Yukew India, Bangalore
Fabricating of tools, moulds and fixtures

 

[ersakthivel]

Does the LCA program make sense? [Archive] - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums

From the same link,

Arming The Dangerous
Rahul Chandran

Eight years of R&D in aircraft technologies finally paid off when a slim, fighter jet took to the skies. But even better, spin-off technologies from the development of the world's lightest combat aircraft are poised to fund further research in defense.
EIGHT YEARS OF R&D IN AIRCRAFT technologies finally paid off when a slim, fighter jet took to the skies. But even better, spin-off technologies from the development of the world's lightest combat aircraft are poised to fund further research in defense.

The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), India's first fully indigenous and the world's smallest combat aircraft. The machine graduated from a mere concept to a flying machine on January 4, 2002. When Wing Commander Rajiv Kothiyal, a test pilot of
the Indian Air Force taxied and took off, pundits lauded the flight as "sheer poetry in motion."

But, overshadowed by the euphoria over the first flight of the LCA, a revolution is quietly brewing. Some time in 2000, the Defense Research Development Organization, an umbrella organization that consists of 51 laboratories, decided to license spin off technologies—corollaries to the actual task of building the world's smallest combat aircraft. As a first step, the CAD software—Autolay—developed by scientists at the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the nodal agency for the LCA, was earmarked for licensing.

ADA announced that its flagship software product, Autolay, would be licensed to commercial aircraft maker Airbus Industrie for $3.2 million for use in its new commercial super jumbo project: A 380.


The contract was the culmination of a long-drawn and extensive benchmarking by Airbus Industrie to select composites software for the A380 project. The contract marked a first of sorts. At a time when governments around the world were being forced to cut down on defense expenditure, India was having its own defense R&D expenditure being subsidized by the sale of spin-off technologies.

The contract was the culmination of a long-drawn and extensive benchmarking by Airbus Industrie to select composites software for the A380 project. The contract marked a first of sorts. At a time when governments around the world were being forced to cut down on defense expenditure, India was having its own defense R&D expenditure being subsidized by the sale of spin-off technologies.

The Airbus contract was sourced through the marketing expertise of U.S.-based CAD/CAM major Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC). Says Air Marshall (retd.) Philip Rajkumar (PVSM), director of the ADA, "While our R&D expertise is second to none, we had no marketing muscle. It made sense to approach a company with proven competencies in this field."

Interestingly, ADA subsequently handed over Autolay along with the associated Intellectual Property rights to Infosys Technologies for an unspecified royalty. Infosys is mandated with further developing the software, enhancing its features to interface with other related tools and programs, and increasing applicability in related areas.
Autolay was no flash in the pan either. After the success with Autolay, ADA now plans to put another software tool christened "Prana" on the block. ADA hopes proceeds from Prana will drive another wave of development, thus ensuring the sustainability of a huge enterprise.

Autolay is an integrated automated software system for the design and development of 3-D laminated composite components. To make the aircraft lighter, LCA uses (as high as 45 percent) composite materials extensively in its airframe. In addition to their light weight, composite materials are also amenable to tailoring their mechanical properties, thereby providing better performance capabilities. However, the processes of the design and development of laminated composite components is radically different from those used in conventional metal structures. It required a new range of multidisciplinary knowledge and computational techniques.

Autolay was designed to address these composite design and development requirements. The software automates the creation of engineering data required to drive the end-to-end design and manufacturing simulation of laminated composite components. Depending on component design complexity and the extent of automation in the fabrication process, reduction of cycle times of up to 70% can be realized routinely by the use of this software. In realistic terms, this would result in a reduction of a minimum of 6 to 8 months in the design and development cycle time of typical aircraft projects. Apart from aerospace, the software can also be effectively used in the shipbuilding, automotive, recreational, and sports goods industries.
Patchwork Artists.

etc from this link.

http://www.siliconindia.com/magazine/StoryNext.asp?aid=QOI766674637&pid=4&page=2
Karna

 

[ersakthivel]

Does the LCA program make sense? [Archive] - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums

Dreams lighten in LCA
Sqn. Ldr. B.G. Prakash

THE INITIAL design of the LCA was based on a metallic body, but ambitious men wanted to use composites. The Indian Air Force opted for a metallic fuselage with traditional technology instead of experimenting with unproven composites. After all, only about half a dozen countries around the world, Italy's Aliena, Germany, France's Mirage and Air Bus, Britain's British Aerospace and Jaguar - are well versed with handling composite technology. The US depends on its very advanced metal technology and less on composites, though about 45 per cent of the F-22 Raptor aircraft comprises of composites.

Advanced composite units at NAL and HAL were established. Both have been instrumental in supporting HANSA, SARAS and the LCA. Prahlad says that bridging a technological gap - as in handling the composites - is more important than satisfying the design aspects. Assemblies with fasteners, bolts, rivets get replaced by monolithic composite components. The spin off is easily absorbable in space launch vehicles and guided missiles, where reusability and pilot's lives are not issues.

Significant Achievement

The use of composites results in a 40 per cent reduction in the total number of parts: For instance, 3,000 parts in a metallic design would come down to 1,800 parts in a composite design. The number of fasteners has been reduced to half in the composite structure from 10,000 in the metallic frame. The composite design helped to avoid about 2,000 holes being drilled into the airframe. Though the weight comes down by 21 per cent, the most interesting prediction is the time it will take to assemble the LCA -- the airframe that takes 11 months to build can be done in seven months using composites.

Involvement of British Aerospace

A component that has curvature, bend and sharp edges may look easy to be formed with composites. But its strength and stress-bearing capacity at certain points is difficult to measure and to improve upon. Tooling design is the most critical requirement in composite technology. The skin of the LCA measures 3 mm at its thickest with the average thickness varying between 2.4 to 2.7 mm. The skin needs to bear a force of 100 Newton per mm. What the designers initially achieved was just 40 N/mm. With some improvements it reached 60 N/mm. Interaction with BAe offered some solutions. BAe is reported to have achieved 160 to 180 N/mm which was a challenge. It came to light only later that they were working with skin thickness of 6 mm. This was a lesson well learnt when composites were used in the bulkhead and stiffener underneath the skin.

T - Pull

The T-Pull problem was another headache for the designers. T-pull occurs at skin and stiffener edge. It includes two forces: One force which acts perpendicular to a surface is referred to as 'sigma z'. The inter-lamination shear stress the trme to assemble the LCA - the airframe that takes along the surface is the other. The flat top of a T-joint meshes with the surface of a composite panel. Adhesives hold them together. The 'leg' of the T joins the flat top not in a perfect mesh - but creates a triangular void at the junction. This is termed as the Bermuda Triangle. Forces tend to pull the leg away from the top; the initial design could withstand only 40 N/mm. An innovative introduction of a thin composite interface strip between the flat top of T and the surface improved the strength dramatically to 60 N/mm. From a basic design scheme it graduated into padded configuration and overlay configuration. Failure was expected at the joints - which did not happen.

On the fuel tank floor, horizontal and longitudinal stiffeners cross each other. At the point of crossing, the longitudinal members are cut out to allow the breadth-wise members to pass through. This process is intricate and special tooling was necessary. Stiffeners join the surface in T-joint and need to be perpendicular to the surface - at exactly 90 degrees!

Research and analysis are continuing to make the T-joint stronger. Adhesives and reinforcement are used to fill the void. Flex cores are used which not only look simple but also elegant. Stitches to bind the flat top of the T to the surface is another method. The recommendations of BAe helped and further progress is foreseen. A 'duct dividing wall' made of composites, which reduces the number of parts and fasteners, is another indigenous effort. It was conceived against existing norms. Complex tool is developed to work on an area measuring 3 m by 1 5 m made of composite. Baffle frame stiffener in fuel tank needs precision engineering.

Air Duct

The Air Duct is a monolithic piece that needs stiffeners. Generally stiffeners protrude outward or inward depending on the component. But the surface of air duct is to be smooth and protrusion of stiffeners cannot be outward lest it obstruct free airflow. So stiffeners are embedded and internal. According to Simha the consultant, one of the 'two best parts' designed is used where the air duct enters the fuselage, with four external and two internal stiffeners, which replaces nearly 30 metallic components. A conventional design could have been used. In the conventional sandwich design, two thin skins called face sheets of 0.3 mm to 1.5 mm thickness are separated by honeycomb struts made of aramid based nomex. The separated space of 10 mm to 20 mm is mostly hollow. Sandwich panels are used in under carriage door, hatches or panel covering the armament bay. Repeated failure was encountered at the inner skin of the air intake with the sandwich design, using metal or composite adopted until then. The other best part is the Y-joint in the floor of the fuel tank with longitudinal stiffeners along the body.

Y - Joint

The Y-Joint is an innovation in the airframe of the LCA where the air duct joins the floor of the fuel tank. Centre fuselage holds the fuel tank which is 2.5 m long. This part needs to handle hook stress and bending stress with the skin being 2.4 mm thick. A monolithic composite part that replaces several metallic pieces was developed. It merges with a counterpart at the bottom, which contains the fuel tank floor. Prevention of fuel leakage is of prime importance. Simha conceived of a small extension at the edge of the top piece, in a new design, which had to mesh with a similar receptacle in the bottom part in a Y-shaped joint. One arm of the Y runs to a length of 1.75 m along the fuel tank floor. No one was sure that it could be manufactured to required specifications. NAL helped. With stiffeners both inside and on the external surface, the secondary bonding technique was successfully used to a length of 1.75 m. The scientist who made this says: "One learns from nature. Branches of trees join the trunk usually in a Y-joint. It must be naturally strong."

Fin and Torque Shaft

The fin for the LCA is a monolithic honeycomb piece. No other manufacturer is known to have made fins out of a single piece. The torque shaft for actuating the rudder is a challenge. It is built on additive process. The cost of manufacture reduces by 80 per cent from Rs 2.5 million in this process. This is contrary to a subtractive or deductive method normally adopted in advanced countries, when the shaft is carved out of a block of titanium alloy by a computerized numerically controlled machine. A 'nose' for the rudder is added by 'squeeze' riveting.

LCA has hats

Yet another innovative design is stiffener of hat section. It has a cross-section that resembles a hat in sequences, it endured the tests and worked well. A honeycomb sandwich piece measuring 400 mm in breadth was not reflecting the required strength to withstand shear forces. Other manufacturers have used similar designs. Within the breadth of 400 mm a hat like cross-section, six or seven in number, successively linked in sequence in the stiffener, is tried in the design. In fact about 30 per cent of the composite material is carved out from the original strip. Hollow portions are created. Yet the design proved capable of withstanding larger shearing forces. It is an optimisation of shape. Engineers use Finite Element Analysis in optimising. FEA computer software are available. Now, an engineer can develop new software based on this design. Autolay -- the software used by designers in the project -- is fondly mentioned.


Section 5435 and 8385

Composites are used in the inner skin at air intake on section 5435 of the front fuselage, at section 8385 of the rear fuselage and at the external skin of rear fuselage. The policy statement stipulates that small cutouts in the airframe are to be minimised; only large cut outs for access are acceptable. Where the straight stiffeners did not provide the required strength, flanged reinforcements were successfully tried. Benefits accrued in achieving improved buckling factor and consequently effected manageable stress concentration.

Lightning Strikes

When lightning strikes the LCA, four metal longerons stretching from end to end, afford protection. In addition, all the panels are provided with copper mesh. One out of five is 'bonding' bolt with gaskets to handle Electr-Magnetic Interference. Aluminum foils cover bolt heads while the fuel tank is taken care of with isolation and grounding.

Corrugated Composite and Test

Some components are of sheets that taper down from a thickness of 9 mm to 3 mm. Obviously, the lamination should dwindle without losing strength. A corrugated finish, which is meticulously achieved, is used. NAL has the only Non-Destructive Test facility in India using ultrasonic tests with frequency varying from 1 to 10 megahertz to test composites. It is needed at many stages in development. Result is in the form of colour images and is analyzed.

Indian Institute of Technology, Powai is involved in providing test boxes, which replace a few test panels. Ultrasonic based testing is necessary on composite surface, which does not show cracks but can have de-laminated layers. Dent shows up on composites though the design allows for barely visible damage to the skin, which may not grow. Moisture is absorbed by composite but the design takes this into consideration. A portable ultrasonic test gear is under development, which can be used in field formations.

SARAS is Thinner

The passenger aircraft under development, SARAS, has control surface that uses composite sheet of 0.6 mm thickness. Squeeze riveting used here is more sophisticated. Technology usable on a sheet with 3 mm thickness cannot be directly adopted.

Appropriate Technology

Plaster of paris is used to make moulds on which composite sheets of the required thickness including the taper are shaped. Surface of the mould needs to be absolutely plane, which is provided by smoothly machined granite tabletops on the workbench. Templates support the plaster block on both sides. The compound solidifies by normal sunlight. To prevent shrinking, solidifying compound from losing its surface grip on the template, screw and nut are inserted on the template. The nut acts as locking nut. Depending on the complexity, the number of screw holes increase. Appropriate technology is in use in the most sophisticated aircraft that this country has seen.

From a level of non-use, composites now form nearly half of the airframe, which carries 30 per cent of the total weight of the aircraft. At times, wealth of information gets poverty of attention - more so with the LCA. May the will of each Indian fly with it!

(c) Indian Defence Review

 

[ersakthivel]

General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon

Type: F-16A
Function: fighter
Year: 1976
Crew: 1
Engines: 1 * 105.7kN P&W F100-PW-220
Wing Span: 10.00 m
Length: 15.03 m
Height: 5.09 m
Wing Area: 27.90 m2
Empty Weight: 7387 kg
Max.Weight: 17010 kg
Max. Speed: Mach 2.05
Ceiling: 16750 m
Max. Range: 3900 km
Armament: 1*g 20 mm 9276 kg payload
Unit cost: 20 million USD
Type: F-16C/D Fighting Falcon
Country: USA
Export: Bahrain/Greece/Israel/Egypt/NZ/UAE/Singapore/South Korea/Oman/Chile
Function: Multirole Fighter
In Service date: 1979
Crew: 1
Engines: 1 x 131,6 kN (29590 lbs) General Electric F110
Wing Span: 10.00 m
Wing area: 27.88 m2
Wing Aspect Ratio: 3.09
Length: 15.03 m
Height: 5.03 m

Empty Weight: 8581 kg
Internal Fuel Weight: 3105 kg
Max.Weight: 19187 kg
Maximum Speed: Mach 2.0
Ferry Range: 4215 km

Combat Radius: 900 km
Internal Armament: 1*g 20 mm
G-limits: 9/-3.5
Maximum instantenous turn rate: 26 degrees/second
Maximum sustained turn rate: 18 degrees/second
TWR(50% fuel, 2 EM A2A missile, 2 IR A2A missile): ~1.26:1
TWR(100% fuel, 2 EM A2A missile, 2 IR A2A missile): ~1.1:1

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

17 deg sustained turn rate is the initial ASR set for LCA mk-1 just 1 degree less than F-16 block C/D.

1.Even with 6G and 20 deg AOA limitation the LCA has already completed a horizontal loop in Aeroindia demo within 23 seconds. That comes to a STR of close to 16 deg with the limitations of partially opened flight envelope.We don't know whether the plane was stretched even to this partial limit of 6Gs and 20 Deg AOA in that demo.

Also with the same 6G 20 deg AOA restriction it completed a vertical loop within 20 seconds in AeroIndia 2013 ,meaning it had a STR of close to 18 deg in vertical loop. In a recent fly past the Su-35 too completed the powered vertical loop within 18 seconds. Once again We don't know whether the plane was stretched even to this partial limit of 6Gs and 20 Deg AOA in that demo.

Recent reports in a blog indicate that LCA mk-1 has achieved a Sustained Turn Rate to the IAf's satisfaction even with 1 ton extra empty weight than the original target of 5470 kg. SO it must have improved over the aeroindia2013 demo in a substantial manner.

So in no way can the initial airframe design can be called draggy.

Also the TWR ratio of LCA with 50 percent fuel is 1.07. Same for F-16 is 1.25. So with even lower thrust to weight ratio than F-16 C/D , LCA has managed to pull closer to the F-16 C/D .

In mk-2 it will only further improve, with weight reduction due to more composite percentage and a 20 percent higher thrust engine in GE F414 IN S 6. Since the length of fuselage is going to be expanded by 0.5 meter only it won't add to much empty weight either.

Also with an empty weight of 8.5 ton F-16 C/D carries 3.1 ton fuel.

LCA mk-1 with it's empty weight of 6.4 tons carries 2.5 ton fuel.SO LCA mk-1 has a close to 10 percent better fuel fraction ratio than the F-16 C/ D. Indicating it won't suffer much in range in an air to air configuration of 2 ton air to air missile load which is it's primary role.

But by having a significantly lower wing loading than the F-16 C/D Tejas mk-1 will have a much better Instantaneous turn Rate than the 26 degree given for F-16 C/ D.

Even the initial ASR given for LCA by MSD Woollen indicates a requirement of 30 deg maximum attainable in the ADA website.

So in the all important high off bore sight WVR missile launching capacity based on Instantaneous Turn Rate , it will be better than the F-16 C/D, just going by the low wing loading factor alone.. But needs citation ofcourse

 

[Kunal Biswas]

2706th flight on 14 Sep

Last Flown -> LSP3: 226 LSP4: 129 LSP7: 120 LSP8 : 110

 

[sgarg]

ersakthivel: Any idea of SP-1 & 2 delivery. Is there anything holding it up.

I thought that planes are delivered in batches. But I do not know for sure.

 

[sgarg]

Tejas is a smart design. There is nothing wrong with the plane.

I believe that even Kavery engine is fine. We Indians are suffering from a lack of confidence in ourselves.

The wet thrust of Kavery is NOT as big an issue as it is made out to be.

I think the main issue is developing self-confidence as a nation. We can build indigenous designed tanks, howitzers, AFVs, planes and ships, if only we can start believing in ourselves.

A sound military industrial complex is necessary to winning wars and sustaining military power.

 

[pankaj nema]

Six more months for FOC

Tejas naval prototype to undergo flight test this month | idrw.org

 

[Dhairya Yadav]

Tejas is a smart design. There is nothing wrong with the plane.

I believe that even Kavery engine is fine. We Indians are suffering from a lack of confidence in ourselves.

The wet thrust of Kavery is NOT as big an issue as it is made out to be.

I think the main issue is developing self-confidence as a nation. We can build indigenous designed tanks, howitzers, AFVs, planes and ships, if only we can start believing in ourselves.

A sound military industrial complex is necessary to winning wars and sustaining military power.

Kaveri is fine? :shocked: Read more about Kaveri before making such statements.
It might have achieved 90% thrust now (which is still way low of required specs) , but its history is full of problems.
saying every local product is excellent is not what this country wants. Honest reviews are necessary.
Kaveri one day will be fitted on Tejas , but that day is still years far.

 

[sgarg]

Kavery engine Specs (source wikipedia)

Dry thrust: 52KN
Wet thrust: 81KN
Weight: 1235 kg

JF-17 engine Klimov RD-93 specs:

Dry Thrust: 49.4/51.2 KN
Wet Thrust: 84.5 KN
Weight: 1055 kg

The above two engine are quite similar in performance. Considering the fact that India lacks industrial base in aero-engines, Kavery is a fairly good start.

Kavery has been tested with 23 hours continuous run. It is also a flat-rated engine suitable for hot climate of India.

I am not doubting that some more refinement is needed. I am only saying that this an engine that is suitable for fitting in a fighter aircraft due to reliability parameters being achieved.

 

[sgarg]

My question to Dhairya: What happens if USA stops supply of GE engines for LCA. Will you stop LCA production or go with Kavery?

Suppose there is heavy terrorist activity in India, so India decides to take punitive action against Pakistan. Uncle gets angry at India and sanctions India. What happens now?

What is the point of building a fighters if it does not give you means to fight a war?

 

[Dhairya Yadav]

Kavery engine Specs (source wikipedia)

Dry thrust: 52KN
Wet thrust: 81KN
Weight: 1235 kg

JF-17 engine Klimov RD-93 specs:

Dry Thrust: 49.4/51.2 KN
Wet Thrust: 84.5 KN
Weight: 1055 kg

The above two engine are quite similar in performance. Considering the fact that India lacks industrial base in aero-engines, Kavery is a fairly good start.

Kavery has been tested with 23 hours continuous run. It is also a flat-rated engine suitable for hot climate of India.

I am not doubting that some more refinement is needed. I am only saying that this an engine that is suitable for fitting in a fighter aircraft due to reliability parameters being achieved.

you are talking about fitting an unfinished engine in a aircraft. And about your question, I would rather stop production of LCA rather than risk life of our valuable pilots.
In past, For your Information, US had sanctioned Pakistan in 1965 war , even though it was an ally, because it was their fault.
Why Tejas , which had its 1st flight in 2001, still hasnt achieved FOC?
Its because its our first design. There can be faults which could remain undetected. One needs to be completely sure .

I have 100% faith in Kaveri project. But you are talking about a prototype engine with major faults being fitted on Tejas.

Wikipedia is never a trustable source. those specs are only applicable when Kaveri project is completed.

 

[sgarg]

Dhairya: Can you elaborate on the faults in Kavery engine?

You cannot compare India with Pakistan. Pakistan is a Muslim country which has the support of many other Muslim countries. Pakistan has also managed to develop a unique client relationship with China.

India is the ONLY Hindu (if you do not get offended by the term) country with no such advantages as Pakistan.

The lives of pilots is a completely separate issue. IAF has not stopped flying Mig-21 despite high accident rate.

Mr Avinash Chander's statement:

Saurav Jha: And what is the status of the flagship Turbofan development, the Kaveri?

Avinash Chander: Kaveri was tested continuously for 53 hours on a flying test bed in Russia where all the major parameters were proven. There were certain observations which are now being addressed at the lab level. We have put up a proposal to the government to continue. So that we have a viable engine at the end of it. More importantly Kaveri will have to be modified for use in the unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). As that comes under MTCR and nobody will give us engines. So Kaveri will essentially be a lifeline for that program.

Link: http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/sauravj...d-scientific-adviser-to-defence-minister.html