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I don't want your Assumption about Cost being invested in LCA project . I don't want to hear about GTRE financial issue or anything LCA powered by GE engines now . 45% of LCA Hardware are Imported
I just want to Know when LCA faced Financial issue ..? If you have Links or Sources Please Post it Here
So when name LCA was written in 1983 on sarkari files and 500 crores were spent on setting up preliminary test facilities and paying fat foreign consultant fees when the project definition finished in 1989 the project was left as an orphan in 1989.ADA asked for 4000 crores and a faster limited series production model(like PAKFA and J-20 development with 7 to 8 prototypes joining test flight regime within three years.) with a dedicated production line. As usual our Imported Air Force was dead set against it!!!!
Eventhough IAF did not contribute a single rupee to LCA development it was their stringent opposition (repeated letters by Air marshal Krishna samy to Defence Minister) ,which resulted in LCA program reduced to two TDs first to demo all the tech,
To be built like cobbler's method of scavenging space and time from older obsolete jag production line with no dedicated vendor support other than HAL(which regarded the program as waste of time, because they knew well in advance that swiss bank bribe regimes at the center will run this show as hobby hour and import another foreign fighter as per our Imported Airforce wish.)
because of IAf's opposition saying that this fighter is too cutting edge and can not be produced here(now they are saying it is too obsolete while praising their Mig-21s !!!) F0ur years were lost in this see saw struggle and in 1993 after dogged intervention by Abdul kalam the program was started as a crippled child with two TDs first to demonstrate all the tech and PVs later LSPs still later mode.
It was this crucial four year delay which took its toll on LCA when sakthi nuclear test intervened .If at IAF was supportive from first day and set aside some money at least the crucial fly by wire tech could have been finished before nuclear tests. but as fate would have it the fly by wire tech JV with US was hit midway because of pokhran nuclear tests and ADA had to start again from scratch for the fly by wire effort which delayed the program by two years.
With HAL not giving priority to program(IAF was not funding it and HAL was getting zero contribution to its top line from tejas effort.) these 4 plus three seven year delay was critical in throwing the time lines of tejas. Then in 2004 IAF asked for newer heavier and higher launching stress inducing air to air missiles launching capabilities in LCA which led to another Full Scale Engineering Development FSED- phase two in 2004 which added few more years in development time.
It was only in 2006 IAF realized that ADA could build a 4.5th gen fighter plane and got on board tejas effort and asked for 250 design changes in the form of requess for action , of which all but 12 are done. these 12 are slated for tejas mk2.
http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/indian-air-force/43717-ada-lca-tejas-iv-202.html
In the line above all these are explained.
All of these is explained in much more detail in ADA tejas thread here from page number -200, so just look at it.
And that 45 percent import costs 45 percent of 26 million that is around 10 million per each plane. compare that to rafale where at least 100 million worth of import is needed for each plane if you consider total lifecycle costs and MLUs.
Also including engines and ASEA radar mpre than 90 percent of tejas mk1 and mk2 parts will be developed here in india as K-10 effort ans UTTAM ASEA effort gathers stream. So in the ling run Tejas is an export earner while rafale is multi billion dollar forex drainer.
