ADA Tejas (LCA) News and Discussions

[nitesh]

What will be engine for NLCA??
Where they are going to carry out sea trials?
I think NLCA is still far from testing...

No need to be so negative mate things are moving although slowly but definitely in right direction If you read the reports carefully PV 5 closely resembles NLCA where we will do sea testing? I am not able to understand what you meant by this

 

[nrj]

No need to be so negative mate things are moving although slowly but definitely in right direction If you read the reports carefully PV 5 closely resembles NLCA where we will do sea testing? I am not able to understand what you meant by this

I am not getting Negative sir, I am just impatiently curious since IAC entering water in OCT 2010.

I'm sure the fundamental work for NLCA is done & reflects in PV5. But the real problem with NLCA is the engine again as in case of LCA since the NLCA engine will have to be different if not totally different but in precise configuration. Carrier fighter engines need to cope up with the salty airs & corrosive environment for which extensive study & testing is required so that it wont affect the NLCA's performance.

We all know what's the status of desi engines, so expecting Kaveri will succeed in MK-2 & NLCA engine is too optimistic since there has been parliamentary talk to import engines for all LCAs of IAF. So this brings the question on NLCA's engine.

By testing i meant the NLCA testing for deck operations, folded wing changes, pilot training. Can the current Viraat be used for such testing & training? or IN is completing the complex for naval aviation to test future fighter? There are lot of things unclear about the NLCA.

Sure NLCA is diligently pursued, after all IN has put 900 crores for the same. I believe when 1st squadron production of LCA MK-1 starts, NLCA things will start moving.

 

[enlightened1]

Tejas LSP-3 First Flight Successful​

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?topicName=india&id=news/awx/2010/04/23/awx_04_23_2010_p0-222037.xml&headline=Tejas%20LSP-3%20First%20Flight%20Successful​

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?topicName=india&id=news/awx/2010/04/23/awx_04_23_2010_p0-222037.xml&headline=Tejas%20LSP-3%20First%20Flight%20Successfulhttp://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?topicName=india&id=news/awx/2010/04/23/awx_04_23_2010_p0-222037.xml&headline=Tejas%20LSP-3%20First%20Flight%20Successful

By Anantha Krishnan M.
Bengaluru

India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas inched closer to its much-awaited initial operational clearance (IOC) when a limited series production (LSP-3) aircraft completed a successful first flight on April 23. The flight carried an Israeli Elta multi-mode radar.

The LSP-3 aircraft is the ninth test vehicle to join the flight line, and its designers at Aeronautics Development Agency (ADA) are hoping for its induction into the Indian Air Force (IAF) by December 2010.

Program Director (Combat Aircraft) and ADA Director P.S. Subramanyam, who spoke to Aviation Week soon after the flight, said it was a significant milestone in the LCA program. "We are nearing the goal. All standard operating procedures for IOC are being achieved. We are now left with flight testing and demonstration of sensors and weapon performance. I owe this to my team and all partners of the project. We are confident of flying the LSP-4 in a month and LSP-5 couple of weeks after that," Subramanyam said.

The April 23 flight was a quantum jump in terms of the equipment carried by the aircraft. It is almost in its final configuration, including new air-data computers, MMR, new communication and navigation equipment and a radar warning receiver.

Wing Cmdr. George Thomas of the National Flight Test Centre (NFTC) was at the controls on April 23, with a Tejas trainer doing the honors of a chase aircraft. "The flight lasted for 52 minutes, touched 0.8 Mach speed and climbed to a maximum altitude of 11 km," sources said. So far, Tejas has logged close to 800 hours of flying.

 

[Armand2REP]

Let's see who post's the 1st photo .

I guess it is me.

 

[Agantrope]

From Livefist, whats the hell that opened in the below surface??

 

[tarunraju]

Landing gear flap-cover. It didn't close.

 

[enlightened1]

PV-5 takes off to chase LSP-3

& lands back

 

[nandu]

LCA Radar is a AESA.

Angle of Attack has learnt that the Radar tested on India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar. Complete information is still not available but it is confirmed that the radar was AESA bring India in a club of select few nations. So far only the Americans have a AESA radar in service on their F/A-18 Super Hornet and the F-22 Raptor. UAE also has AESA radar on their F-16 Block 60 which is also of American origin. Many other countries are currently testing and developing AESA radar.

According to past reports the AESA radar could have had a Indian Antenna, radome and scanner with a Israeli processor. This might be sketchy but this all Angle of Attack knows right now. The aircraft also had a new air data processor, Radar warning receiver and a new navigation and communication system bring the aircraft very close to its IOC standard.
Project director P.S Subramanyam said that all the testing necessary to receive the IOC certificate are done except the flight testing and demonstration of sensors and weapon performance which will be done once LSP-4 and LSP-5 start flying. According to him LSP-4 will be ready in a month and the LSP-5 will be ready a week later after LSP-4. Hence we can conclude that IOC certificate could be received by the Tejas within 6-7 months from now.

http://angle-of-attack.blogspot.com/2010/04/lca-radar-is-aesa.html

 

[JayChennai]

First time seeing the numbers of hours clocked. The trainer is a beauty

 

[Yatharth Singh]

What are the differences between the usual LCA and its Naval version?

 

[Agantrope]

What are the differences between the usual LCA and its Naval version?

Normal LCA will be just like other fighter with normal landing gear and all those stuffs.
Naval one will be with powerful landing gears meant to land in the carriers where the runways are short. it will also have a different coating which will prevents it from the corrosion of the salt nature of sea.

 

[gogbot]

What are the differences between the usual LCA and its Naval version?

Some of features of "Naval LCA Version":

Aircraft carrier operation with ski-jump and arrested landing

Nose drooped for better cockpit vision

Additional aerodynamic features like LEVCON and fore plane to reduce carrier landing speed

Maximum take off weight from carrier—12.5 tons

External store carrying capacity from carrier—3.5 tons

Strengthened fuselage

Stronger undercarriage due to higher sink rate

Arrestor hook for deck recovery

Fuel dump system

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

regular LCA

Naval and Trainer.

 

[gb009]

LCA Radar is a AESA.

Angle of Attack has learnt that the Radar tested on India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar. Complete information is still not available but it is confirmed that the radar was AESA bring India in a club of select few nations. So far only the Americans have a AESA radar in service on their F/A-18 Super Hornet and the F-22 Raptor. UAE also has AESA radar on their F-16 Block 60 which is also of American origin. Many other countries are currently testing and developing AESA radar.

According to past reports the AESA radar could have had a Indian Antenna, radome and scanner with a Israeli processor. This might be sketchy but this all Angle of Attack knows right now. The aircraft also had a new air data processor, Radar warning receiver and a new navigation and communication system bring the aircraft very close to its IOC standard.
Project director P.S Subramanyam said that all the testing necessary to receive the IOC certificate are done except the flight testing and demonstration of sensors and weapon performance which will be done once LSP-4 and LSP-5 start flying. According to him LSP-4 will be ready in a month and the LSP-5 will be ready a week later after LSP-4. Hence we can conclude that IOC certificate could be received by the Tejas within 6-7 months from now.

http://angle-of-attack.blogspot.com/2010/04/lca-radar-is-aesa.html

Is this news authentic? I mean if LCA does have a functional AESA then it is probably the best thing that could have happened to LCA ( apart from may be the kaveri engine meeting its objective and fitted on to the LCA). I wonder why everybody else is reporting it as just and MMR if it is in fact an AESA?

The same blog has this in a previous post (2 days before this one)

But there is catch, according to the report the radar is not the Indian MMR but a Israeli Elta-2032.

 

[nandu]

Ninth 'Tejas' Light Combat Aircraft takes to skies

The maiden test flight of the most advanced of the nine 'Tejas' aircraft has been successfully carried out, bringing the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme "very close" to the Initial Operations Clearance.

It is the ninth test vehicle to join the flight line to undertake development flight trials of the LCA Tejas towards operational clearance for induction in the Indian Air Force by the end of the year, the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) said.

"Successful, copy book maiden test flight of Limited Series Production-3 (LSP-3) is significant on many counts," it said in a statement after the flight test on Friday.

"With this successful flight, the LCA (Tejas) programme is very close to the Initial Operations Clearance, which is to be completed by December 2010. The remaining effort is mostly the flight testing and demonstration of sensors and weapon performance," it said.

http://www.brahmand.com/news/Ninth-Tejas-Light-Combat-Aircraft-takes-to-skies/3724/1/12.html

 

[nandu]

Is this news authentic? I mean if LCA does have a functional AESA then it is probably the best thing that could have happened to LCA ( apart from may be the kaveri engine meeting its objective and fitted on to the LCA). I wonder why everybody else is reporting it as just and MMR if it is in fact an AESA?

The same blog has this in a previous post (2 days before this one)

Its authenetic dear.

By mid-2002, development of the MMR was reported to be experiencing major delays and cost escalations. By early 2005 only the air-to-air look-up and look-down modes — two very basic modes — were confirmed to have been successfully tested. In May 2006 it was revealed that the performance of several modes being tested still "fell short of expectations."[26] As a result, the ADA was reduced to running weaponisation tests with a weapon delivery pod, which is not a primary sensor, leaving critical tests on hold. According to test reports, the crux of the problem is a serious compatibility issue between the radar and the advanced signal processor module (SPM) built by the LRDE. Acquisition of an "off-the-shelf" foreign radar like Elta's EL/M-2052 is an interim option being seriously considered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_Combat_Aircraft

Elta's EL/M-2052

The Elta 2052 is an advanced airborne Active electronically scanned array fire control radar for fighter aircraft. It is suitable for F-15, MiG-29, Mirage 2000, LCA Tejas. The EL/M-2052 is an advanced Airborne Fire Control Radar (FCR) designed for air superiority and advanced strike missions.
The FCR is based on fully solid-state active phased array technology. This new technology enables the radar to achieve a longer detection range, high mission reliability and a multi-target tracking capability of up to 64 targets.[1] The EL/M-2052 radar incorporates Elta's decades of field-proven experience with real operational feedback from Israeli Air Force combat pilots.
The radar introduces new dimensions to the Air-to-Air, Air-to-Ground and Air-to-Sea operation modes of the aircraft. In the Air-to-air mode, the radar enables a very long-range multi targets detection and enables several simultaneous weapon deliveries in combat engagements.[2]
In Air-to-ground missions, the radar provides very high resolution mapping (SAR), surface moving target detection and tracking over RBM, DBS and SAR maps in addition to A/G ranging. In Air-to-Sea missions the radar provides long-range target detection and tracking, including target classification capabilities (RS, ISAR).[3]
Features
Full solid State radar
High MTBCF(redundancy)
High ECM immunity
Extended detection rages
Multi Target Tracking (64 targets)
Simultaneous modes of operation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EL/M-2052

 

[nrj]

I would like to bring the question about the engine of N-LCA here.

What will the the engine for N-LCA? GE F-414? or GTRE can come up with compatible variant of Kaveri? Any reports of desi development?

 

[ppgj]

I would like to bring the question about the engine of N-LCA here.

What will the the engine for N-LCA? GE F-414?

IMO, engines do not change for the naval versions perse as long as they have enough thrust to take the intended load - making up for the extra weight. however the naval versions will have anti corrosion material applied to them.

as for GE-414, depends if india selects it or EJ200.

or GTRE can come up with compatible variant of Kaveri? Any reports of desi development?

in future, yes that is possible. the same will power the land and the naval version(with the application i pointed out above).

 

[gogbot]

Its authenetic dear.

I don't believe it.

AESA was an option for the Mk-2 version . the Mk-1 was supposed to have the Hybrid MMR.

 

[coldfire2005]

we only started working on AESA recently ,it cannot be AESA radar it has to be Hybrid MMR based on 2032

 

[nrj]

as for GE-414, depends if india selects it or EJ200.

If its GE F414 then it'll be a quick integration IMHO. Because 414 already operated on naval fighters & is a matured platform.

However i am concerned about EJ. Eurojet is best for LCA but if selected it shouldn't bring problems to N-LCA as i don't think any naval fighter is powered by EJ. It will require rigorous testing apart from Anti-corrosive coating.
This will only delay the N-LCA induction.
Currently they will be testing N-LCA with GE404.

I think we should order initial GE414 for first 40 N-LCA on IAC & then wait for desi engine.