ADA Tejas (LCA) News and Discussions

[Rahul Singh]

Thanks for your effort. I have a few questions:
1. Tejas doesn't have ailerons, flaps or thrust-vectoring and depends on the rudder for turning. Is this the reason why it is incapable of turning at small angles?

See Tejas has what is called ELEVON and that same control surce does the function of elevator, flap and aileron in single motion. That is something unique with most of the tail less delta wing fighters.

BTW rudder plays very small role in turing a fighter. It only gives you yaw control, while turing includes roll, pitch and yaw. In same sequence.

3. Since Delta wings cover bigger area, don't they contribute to unnecessary weight, particularly when the aim is to make an LCA with a single engine ?

In small fighters like LCA greatest challenge is to have requisite volume without adding much to the size. A cropped delta wing like there in LCA just does that. LCA is small yet it carries 2500 liters of fuel, that's because of the volume its delta wing provides.

 

[harsh]

NLCA MK-2 will have 5 ton plus combat load and similar volume of fuel as Gripen E does. Be sure on that. Since weight reduction is one of the driving force we might also see mach 2 performance. In nut-shell whatever MK-2 loses over Gripen E will be in terms of volume, which may not alow inclusion of IRST and like. But on rest it will shoulder.

IRST can be mounted internally or you can have external weapon pod which can do a range of functions.
Tejas has a dedicated weapon pod point. So that is equally effective as compared to internally IRST.
We can change the pod and make it more advanced in minutes but it comes with drawbacks.
IAF didn't give requirement for internal IRST other wise it can be there. It is not big deal.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

There are war records of MIRAGE of Israeli Air-force Involving dogfight with Arab Air-force MIG-21s and others, The Dogfight involve high AOA and other tactics..

Screen Shot of the page :

Official Website of Israeli Air-force : The Israeli Air Force

IMHO, After reading the accounts, It is wrong to assume that delta wing Aircraft is less in dogfight, According to accounts the Mirage not only sustain high turn rates and maintain them but also out turn MIG-21 in dogfights..

Tejas capabilities haven`t yet fully explored ..

Thanks for your effort. I have a few questions:
1. Is this the reason why it is incapable of turning at small angles?

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For that their is Nirbhay ..

Sir, why can't they prefer RBS-15....!

It is bit heavy, yes, but it has 250+ range too.

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Including additional lift & Bigger bomb load ..

LCA is small yet it carries 2500 liters of fuel, that's because of the volume its delta wing provides.

 

[HariPrasad-1]

Yes, look at our Tejas program and what we achieved with our first plane. I am sure that if properly funded, We can have a plane of Gripen NG class in next decade or 12 years. We did a lots of R & D and that is paying off now. Getting a Tejas like plane in first attempt without any background is not a joke. What we need now is to jump to fifth generation Tejas. Government should allocate proper fund and should ask scientist to prepare design withing 3 years and next 2 years fro building prototype. It should use GE 414 EPE engine generating 414 HP. It should fly at mach 2 and carry atleast 5.5 ton pay load. Our scientist showed that they are capable of making better than the best, We can have one plane of Gripen NG class with stealth and we may use it till 2050.

My mistake. Pl read 116 KN in place of 414 HP.

 

[Rahul Singh]

IRST can be mounted internally or you can have external weapon pod which can do a range of functions.
Tejas has a dedicated weapon pod point. So that is equally effective as compared to internally IRST.
We can change the pod and make it more advanced in minutes but it comes with drawbacks.
IAF didn't give requirement for internal IRST other wise it can be there. It is not big deal.

Internal IRST gives numerous advantage in steath combat and since MK-2 is coming in next decade, it should have it. In A2A if you combine IRST with Python 5, you can take out enemy fighter without even alerting its RWR. Its a must have.

 

[Rahul Singh]

The Dogfight involve high AOA and other tactics..

Typo alert. It's called high Yo Yo. A maneuver to maintain 6 o'clock position even if your ememy is forcing an overshoot by sustaining speed lower than your stall speed.

 

[HariPrasad-1]

Tejas capabilities haven`t yet fully explored ..

Yes, Simply aerodynamic change will bring a huge change in performance. If the weight is reduced, than it can bring in even more performance improvement.

 

[ersakthivel]

@ersakthivel posted interesting stuff but not active now-a-days.

Will write one long post in a month or two on where tejas stands, I am just waiting for FOC so that I can get proper citation for claims.

It reached the top of the vertical loop in 7 seconds flat & completed it in 14-16 seconds with no thrust vectroing!!!, so all the "under powered, over weight " BS goes out of the window

 

[rohit b3]

Mate, the Thrust to Weight Ratio of Tejas with 100% Fuel is actually just 0.94, which is low. The maneuvers performed are with very low fuel to reduce the weight.
However if they are successful in reducing the weight of Mk1A, the Thrust to Weight ratio would go upto 0.96 to 1 depending on how much they reduce the weight.
Looking foreword to that.

 

[harsh]

Mate, the Thrust to Weight Ratio of Tejas with 100% Fuel is actually just 0.94, which is low. The maneuvers performed are with very low fuel to reduce the weight.
However if they are successful in reducing the weight of Mk1A, the Thrust to Weight ratio would go upto 0.96 to 1 depending on how much they reduce the weight.
Looking foreword to that.

0.94 t/w please provide link in support of your dubious figure.
Every aircraft performs with less fuel and minus armaments so I think it is equated by this fact.
Performance is based on a lot of factors t/w is just 1 of them. So you can't say these thing just on t/w.

Tejas is a good aircraft. And with modifications it it comparable to any contemporary aircraft in light category. And can fight with medium or heavy aircraft too

 

[kstriya]

Western arms contractors worried over success of Indian Tejas Jet

Published April 23, 2016


SOURCE: ANI



Leading defence and aeronautical firms of the West are reportedly worried over the success of the Tejas Trainer Jet, especially as India is expected to bag the first contracts for the trainer jet from Sri Lanka and Egypt.

The Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is a supersonic, single-seat, single-engine multirole light fighter aircraft, which has been under development for the past three decades. It has been co-developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in cooperation with the Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) is reportedly looking to procure 18 to 24 new fighter aircraft to replace its obsolete fleet of Chinese license-built MIG-21 by 2017, and had recently rejected Pakistan’s JF-17 aircraft built with Chinese help.

On the other hand, Egypt has also shown some interest in procuring the Tejas, though it had last year signed a contract to buy 24 Rafale fighter jets from France.

According to the web site www.dailymirror.lk, both Colombo and Cairo are said to be interested in purchasing the current version of the aircraft. Two things going in favour of the Tejas are its lower cost and its flying ability.

The Tejas is perhaps the world’s smallest lightweight, multi-role single engine tactical fighter aircraft and the state-run HAL has said it has received expressions of interest for it from abroad, but refused to reveal any names. It has maintained that its priority is to deliver this combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy first.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is reported to have a requirement for 200 single-seat and 20 two-seat conversion trainers, while the Indian Navy might order up to 40 single-seaters to replace its Sea Harrier FRS.51 and Harrier T.60.

Rather than wait for LAC Mk II, the IAF had decided to go for an upgraded version of the existing Tejas with over 40 modifications. As per the production plan, six aircraft will be made this year and HAL will subsequently scale it up to eight and 16 aircraft per year.

HAL is likely to hand over the fourth Tejas aircraft to the IAF by June end. The four aircraft will make up the first squadron to be used for training and familarisation. The first Tejas squadron will be based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and is scheduled to enter service by 2017-2018.

The LCA programme was initiated in 1983 to replace the ageing MiG-21s planes in IAF’s combat fleet. In 1984, the Indian government established the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to manage the LCA programme. The Tejas is often described as a HAL product, but the responsibility for its development belongs to ADA, a national consortium of over 100 defence laboratories, industrial organisations, and academic institutions with HAL being the principal contractor.

The Tejas is the second supersonic fighter developed by HAL after the HAL HF-24 Marut.

 

[rohit b3]

0.94 t/w please provide link in support of your dubious figure.
Every aircraft performs with less fuel and minus armaments so I think it is equated by this fact.
Performance is based on a lot of factors t/w is just 1 of them. So you can't say these thing just on t/w.

Tejas is a good aircraft. And with modifications it it comparable to any contemporary aircraft in light category. And can fight with medium or heavy aircraft too

T/W ratio is calculated by dividing the Total Thrust (with afterburner) with the Loaded Weight of the Aircraft. Both should be either in LB or KG.
For Tejas its 9163(Total thrust in Kgf) divided by 9800 (Loaded weight).

And offcourse Tejas is a Great aircraft. I support 3 production lines for Tejas to be honest! I just pointed out the overweight theory of the IAF was not completely wrong.
Tejas mk1A is a brilliant move which will being down both the Empty and Loaded Weight.

 

[kstriya]

T/W ratio is calculated by dividing the Total Thrust (with afterburner) with the Loaded Weight of the Aircraft. Both should be either in LB or KG.
For Tejas its 9163(Total thrust in Kgf) divided by 9800 (Loaded weight).

And offcourse Tejas is a Great aircraft. I support 3 production lines for Tejas to be honest! I just pointed out the overweight theory of the IAF was not completely wrong.
Tejas mk1A is a brilliant move which will being down both the Empty and Loaded Weight.

By having tweaked the landing gear and LRU's, LCA weight was brought down by 8%. With 40% composite materials we have more room for weight reduction as MK2 is planned with 70% composites. I believe we should have another two production lines for Tejas with MK1a, MK2 and MK3 with the later being handled by private players so that they can get the exports required to make the LCA program a success.

 

[kstriya]

@ersakthivel sir is it possible to bring the weight of LCA MK1a in its current form to 3.5 tons which is now 5.5 if we increase the composites to 70%?

 

[V_Force]

Why there is no news and images of Tejas, does anybody know the integration status of in-flight refulling probe? Why there is no image of SP1 and SP2? Eager to see images of N-LCA and what's happening at shore based test facility at Goa.

 

[WARREN SS]

What is Service Life of LCA air frame.CAG Report Mentioned It Is 1000 hours that Pretty Low

 

[Sakal Gharelu Ustad]

What is Service Life of LCA air frame.CAG Report Mentioned It Is 1000 hours that Pretty Low

Please Post figures for other air crafts...................

 

[WARREN SS]

Please Post figures for other air crafts...................

For Instance F-16 Air-frame Life is 8000 hours

 

[WARREN SS]

What is the Service Life if Airframe LCA ???

 

[Sakal Gharelu Ustad]

For Instance F-16 Air-frame Life is 8000 hours

Please post source for both to support your claim.