ADA Tejas (LCA) News and Discussions

[HariPrasad-1]

China is a thies country. Whosoever thinks that china is ahead of us will get clear cut picture in next 5 years that this copy pest country is nothing against India.

 

[tejas warrior]

Parrikar takes credit for development of Tejas MK-1A

SOURCE: IDRW NEWS NETWORK

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in an interview to DD News said that he along with Indian Air Force and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited arranged series of meetings in Bangalore and New Delhi to finally get IAF on board to accept the development of Upgraded Tejas MK-1A with key improvements over current Tejas MK-1. Nearly 8 meetings were held in Bangalore and 5 in New Delhi chaired by Parrikar which finally lead to IAF accepting HAL’s offer of developing upgraded LCA Tejas fighter jet with many improvements with key new features like AESA Fire control Radar (FCR) ,In-flight refueling probe (IFR),Electronic warfare (EW) suite on a pod and weight reduction measures to improve flight operational performance . Under Previous government, Indian Air Force had refused to place further orders for LCA-Tejas fighter jet based on MK-1 air frame and was keen on the development of Stretched Tejas MK-II fighter jet which was to be powered by the more powerful engine but could have delayed the project considerably due major changes required to the LCA-Tejas Air frame . Parrikar confirmed that nearly 100 Tejas MK-1A will be ordered by Indian Air Force and in addition to 20 Tejas MK-1 orders for which were placed earlier . First, Squadron of LCA-Tejas will be ready by the end of August or early September with four aircraft (SP-1 to SP-4) and first two aircraft already have been handed over to Indian Air force . idrw.org in previous reports had mentioned that hectic work has been going on in the vicinity of HAL Airport in Bangalore to build Hangar and Crew facility for first LCA-Tejas Squadron to be housed for initial first few months before it is relocated to Sulur Air Force Station in Tamil Nadu .

 

[Rahul Singh]

His boldness very much shaped the future of fighter aviation in country.

Never saw a defence minister so aggressively pursuing defence manufacturing and export targets with clearly stating how to get there.

I am sure he must be busy putting up a road map for AMCA.

 

[AbRaj]

On a related note, Suresh Kalmadi is a former Indian Air Force pilot.

I curse IAF for harbouring such "filth"
IAF needs some serious reforms
Just look at the scandals and corruption, IAF involved in.

Also among three forces IAF has weakest record against the enemy, provided they used to get maximum budget allocation. Don't know if it's due to shortsightedness in strategic planning or due to deep and massive corruption practice

 

[AbRaj]

@Kunal Biswas, I think I owe an addditional explanation to my post.

I merely mentioned that Suresh Kalmadi is a former Indian Air Force pilot as a matter of fact. This is not an endorsement of his actions.

While I do believe he knows a thing or two about flying aircraft and does have first hand knowledge about the Indian Air Force, his accusations against DRDO are merely accusations, unless there is solid evidence. Moreover, him being a former military man does not give him a carte blanche to do whatever he wants. He was mired in corruption scandals, including the one during the Commonwealth Games.

Sir, I just read his involvement in formula one racing scandal, and I must say he is an embarrassment to whatever organization and party he belongs. No one wants his name associated with person like Kalmadi

 

[tejas warrior]

Indigenously designed and developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is under production.

Nothing new, but still looking very supportive if twitted by MP.

 

[tejas warrior]

Tejas to replace MiG as key fighter

Majority of the 250 planes will be phased out in 15 years, says Parrikar.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas would be the mainstay of the Indian Air Force and would likely replace the entire MIG-21 fleet of almost 250 fighters.

The Minister’s statement is significant given the recent noises emanating from the Ministry, hinting at the possibility of another single-engine fighter being considered to make up for the shortfall of fighters. In the past, the IAF had been reluctant to fully back the domestic Tejas programme.

“LCA is mainstay. There will be seven squadrons of it. It is 3-4 times better than MiG-21s,” he told The Hindu on Thursday giving an overview of the IAF modernisation plans.

About 250 MiG-21s were in service, most of which would be phased out in the next 10-15 years, Mr. Parrikar said, adding that they would be “replaced by the LCA and another single-engine fighter.”

Asked if another single-engine fighter was under consideration, he declined to confirm.

“We may consider. I have not said we are looking. Tomorrow we may decide to have everything from Tejas. The second version of Tejas, which is an improved version, is coming into production after the first two squadrons,” he said.

Mirage and Jaguar upgrade programmes were currently under way which, Mr. Parrikar said, would add 10-30 years to their life.

“In five to six years, we should start getting new double-engine fighters, not Rafales only,” he stated.

The improved version of LCA referred to as Mk-1A with four major improvements over the Mk-1 variant has been offered by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as an interim measure in view of the delay in LCA-MK2.

Mr. Parrikar said the third squadron with 1A would be a highly improved version, which was under trials. “Those special additives are under trial like firing a Bond Visual Range (BVR) missile etc,” he said.

‘LCA has limitations’
However, the LCA being a single-engine, light-weight fighter, it has its limitations, which is why another twin-engine fighter would be needed other than the Rafale, Mr. Parrikar stated.

“Functionally, the LCA is better than many other foreign fighters. It reacts very smoothly, fly-by-wire, its turn radius is very good, manoeuvrability is very good but it has limitation in the sense that it is a light combatant… It cannot go into deep penetration… It is mostly good for dogfights in your own sky or to degrade the opponent Army’s command posts,” Mr. Parrikar observed and added that “we need more twin-engine fighters for deep penetration.”

Source: The Hindu

 

[tejas warrior]

Parrikar Comments creates Buzz over F-18 offer

Published May 28, 2016 SOURCE: IDRW

NEWS NETWORK Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar created media buzz when he said that in a recent Interview that “After 36 Twin engined Rafale fighter India will buy another Twin engined Fighter jet ” . A Certain section of media speculated that both single-engined F-16 and Gripen E more or less have been rejected in favour of Twin-Engined F-18 Super Hornet which was offered by Boeing . But Highly informed sources close to idrw.org have informed us that media might have misunderstood what Defence minister actually meant and he might not be actually referring to Boeing F-18 but to the proposed Indo-Russian Joint venture to develop 5th Generation FGFA based on Sukhoi Pak-fa . According to media reports which quoted Defence ministry officials said that India plans to induct 400 New fighter jets by 2030 . 36 Rafale fighter jets will be procured from France and 114 FGFA 5th Generation fighter jets will be produced in India . IAF has also agreed to place orders for 100 Upgraded Tejas MK-1A and 20 Tejas MK1 and Development of Stretched and upgraded MK2 fighter jets too will be carried out and orders for Indigenous LCA-Tejas and its variants might expand to 250 aircraft. Previously idrw.org had reported that DRDO plans to have first flight of LCA-Tejas MK-2 by 2022 and GE officials in at recently concluded DEFExpo 2016 in Goa have confirmed that considerable progress on the development of F414-INS6 has been made and development work of F414-INS6 for LCA Tejas Mk II will be completed by the end of 2016 . ” We are ready to initiate technology transfer for F414-INS6 engine production with HAL and we are in talks for continuing supply of F404-IN20 engines for LCA Tejas Mk I and for its variants ( MK-1A),” Said GE official to idrw.org . Previous Defence Minister A.K.Antony few years back had hinted that Indigenous LCA-Tejas fighter jet will replace all retiring fleet of Mig-21 and Mig-27 from Indian Air Force which might take LCA-Tejas orders well over 300 to replace one to one aircraft been retired .

..http://idrw.org . Read more at India No 1 Defence News Website , Kindly don http://idrw.org/parrikar-comments-creates-buzz-f-18-offer/#more-96169 .

 

[tejas warrior]

Arrested recovery landing next big test for NLCA

Bengaluru: With the ongoing pre-Monsoon trials for the naval version of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) entering its last lap, the designers would now shift their focus towards the maiden arrested recovery landing missions (post-Monsoon), at INS Hansa in Goa.

While the current campaign is scheduled to end next week, sources confirm to Mathrubhumi that the prototypes would be now readied for arrester hook landing trials from the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF), on their return to Bengaluru.

“Extensive data has been gathered so far and these would be analysed by various system groups. We would assess whether any changes need to be incorporated on the prototypes. Later, arrester hook will be installed on NP2. We have already carried out the Ground Vibration Test (GVT) and Structural Coupling Test (SCT),” an official said.

At Bengaluru, based on the flight test data, scientists have already conducted wind tunnel tests for different combinations of LEVCON (Leading Edge Vortex Controller) and Slats to obtain optimum configuration.

“Structural Test Specimen (STS) tests have already been carried out on the specially- built Main Airframe Static Test (MAST) created at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). The limit loads for high sink rate and full arrester hook loads have been successfully tested.


This is an important precursor for the taxi-in engagement at the SBTF,” says the official.

Ski-jump launches no more a major challenge

The engineers associated with the current campaign say that ski-jump launch is not considered to be a major challenge any more and further launches are to explore the limits that the aircraft can be taken to.

“Normal launch in the aircraft carrier is from around 200 meter, where the Restraining Gear System (RGS) is located. First launch in December 2014 was from a distance of around 300m to establish a safe launch for the first time with a lot of conservatism as this was the first time. The first launch was when there was a tail wind of 8 knots.

Normally on the carrier, there is at least 15 to 20 knots headwind. During the latest set of launches, winds have been both from ahead, cross and tail,” says the official.

NLCA launches done with R-73 missiles

In the current campaign at SBTF, a total of five launches were carried out, including two night launches and in addition to eight already done last month so far by both NP-1 and NP-2.

“Due to the confidence we gained, we have already carried out launches adding two R- 73 Close Combat Missiles. We would further fine tune Control Law to enhance launch capability that would enhance further take-off mass capability. So far, the loads on landing gear system are as per predictions,” says the official.

He said a series of test pre-requisites to actual arrested recovery have been conducted to evaluate the handling qualities (HQ) of the aircraft.

“Towards HQ evaluation, preliminary approaches (about 10) were done during the December 2014 campaign and it was established that the Control Law needed updates.

In the current campaign, over 100 approaches have been done from both NP1 and NP2 to gather data to enable further fine tuning of Control Law,” the official added.

Earlier report, here:

(The writer is an author, blogger and seasoned defence journalist in India. His just- launched book ‘Precious Souls’ captures inspiring stories of special children and their families. He is currently a Content Consultant with Mathrubhumi (English Online) and tweets @writetake.)

 

[smestarz]

You are perhaps now aware how compromised the leadership of our defence forces are and how much well "networked" the Defence chiefs are with the politicians, no better example than what happened during the 10 years of UPA, Already Tyagi is in the dock for VVIP chopper scam, next would be NAK Browne for his roles in few other scams related to Pilatus and MMRCA..

I curse IAF for harbouring such "filth"
IAF needs some serious reforms
Just look at the scandals and corruption, IAF involved in.

Also among three forces IAF has weakest record against the enemy, provided they used to get maximum budget allocation. Don't know if it's due to shortsightedness in strategic planning or due to deep and massive corruption practice

 

[tejas warrior]

Guys, Can someone provide latest happenings on Mk1-A improvements.. mainly below four improvements.. b'cos 2018 is not very far now..

1. Elta’s ELM-2052 AESA radar
2. Air-to-Air Refuelling
3. Self-protection jammer (SPJ)
4. Weight Reduction

 

[Saichand K]

Guys, Can someone provide latest happenings on Mk1-A improvements.. mainly below four improvements.. b'cos 2018 is not very far now..

1. Elta’s ELM-2052 AESA radar
2. Air-to-Air Refuelling
3. Self-protection jammer (SPJ)
4. Weight Reduction

Yeah that is true.. no buzz at all on Mk 1A. I think HAL's meetings with Gripen is related to Mk-1A.

 

[tejas warrior]

Yeah that is true.. no buzz at all on Mk 1A. I think HAL's meetings with Gripen is related to Mk-1A.

I hope they r not involving Saab much.. All IP of Tejas should be with us.

1. Elta’s ELM-2052AESA radar comes from Israel, so I think Elta will support. Don't know about its status.

2. Air-to-Air Refuelling : I think it's work in progress.. testing should start by end of this year.

 

[Saichand K]

I hope they r not involving Saab much.. All IP of Tejas should be with us.

1. Elta’s ELM-2052AESA radar comes from Israel, so I think Elta will support. Don't know about its status.

2. Air-to-Air Refuelling : I think it's work in progress.. testing should start by end of this year.

True, more worrying thing is about SPJ and landing gear weight reduction of which there is no news at all.

 

[Rahul Singh]

“Functionally, the LCA is better than many other foreign fighters. It reacts very smoothly, fly-by-wire, its turn radius is very good, manoeuvrability is very good but it has limitation in the sense that it is a light combatant… It cannot go into deep penetration… It is mostly good for dogfights in your own sky or to degrade the opponent Army’s command posts

And why?

Because in 80s IAF had limited LCA's length to be under Mig-21's. Funny thing is, at that time world was producing Mig-29, Mirage -2000 and F-16, and these were called light weight fighters. And out of these three, first two were being inducted during the period when ASR for LCA was being put together. This brings me to question, why IAF was looking at a Mig-21 size fighter when reputed air forces were looking at F-16s and Mirage -2000s as there one? What relevance did ASR had when everyone must have known then that any new fighter would take atleast 15 years of development time and thereafter should serve as front line fighter for next 30 years least. Which translates as 1989 to 2004 as development period and 2004 to 2034 as service period. Interestingly this is only 2016 and already you are talking of its limitations. Need to remind that this talking is going on for atleast 10 years.

Some questions.

Is IAF total failure at foreseeing furure requirements? Or Did IAF wrote ASR haphazardly? Why did ASR asked for a fighter with Mig-21 size airframe and Mirage -2000 type avionics package? How can you pack Mirage-2000 size avionics and related electronics package in a Mig-21 size fighter without bulging airframe at certain areas ( read centre fugelage) hence compromising with flight performance, when ideally these areas needs to totally comply to area ruling for optimum flight performance? Besides, how much these conflicting requirements made designers compromise on fuel volume to be carried internally? What would have happened if IAF had written the ASR by taking practical parameters into account ?

Few conclusions. But some questions first.

How much wrong i am If i say had IAF not restricted the size of airframe, ADA would have developed what we call NLCA MK-2 as very first varient? Fact is besides engine nothing would had required a greater effort, as size shape and capability of most ( not all ofcourse) of avionics remains same in fighters belonging to different weight class. Even present engine would not have required changing with higher thrust one considering Gripen C with same 404 engine can pull very much same performance as Mirage 2000. I could go so far to say at this time we would have been developing a Mirage-4000 version of LCA, instead of one in Mirage -2000 C class which is LCA Mk-2.

Irony is, since last 4-5 years we are continuously sweating and even bleeding to buy very much same weight and performance class of fighter as Mirage 4000, not to say without any sucess.

Few notes

These conflicting requirements in ASR had played a very wicked role in delaying this project to this point which has resulted in M-MRCA becoming so much of a dinosaur kind of need or problem (pick whichever you like).

Limited size and greater avonics requirements made it impossible to attain performance target. And development of MK-2 as a remedy is a vivid testimony to it.

My stand.

Now let me state it clearly. I don't doubt IAF's professionalism, i couldn't be more wrong if i do so. But am i questioning IAF's version of 'Best'. Answer is, sadly i do. No one will ever give their best to you, does not matter how badly you are ready to pay through nose. Best you can get from abroad is borrow someone's second best. And if it is your best. Then sorry. You just restricted yourself to second position and with you the entire country. And when your greatest adversary is looking for first position by trying to get real absolute best, then you are doing nothing but compromising with nation's security.

Or you knew it all and wrote LCA's ASR with some ' i won't name' intention. Then i am terrified.

 

[tejas warrior]

LCA - Analysis by former airChiefs.

 

[A chauhan]

Or you knew it all and wrote LCA's ASR with some ' i won't name' intention. Then i am terrified.

IAF was reluctant to write ASR for LCA it seems or unwilling to rely on Desi product & had no confidence on DRDO's capabilities. And IAF itself has suffered the most.

 

[saagar943]

LCA - Analysis by former airChiefs.

old IAF thugs. man its HA its IAF behaving like agent of foreign nations.

 

[Rahul Singh]

IAF was reluctant to write ASR for LCA it seems or unwilling to rely on Desi product & had no confidence on DRDO's capabilities. And IAF itself has suffered the most.

If HAL vs IAF spat on HTT-40 vs Pilatus is some example then one can imagine how much trouble IAF must have created then for LCA project pushers.

 

[tejas warrior]

Why India is replacing Russian R-73 Close combat air-to-air missile with Israeli Python-5 on LCA-Tejas

It’s more or less confirmed now that India’s Indigenously developed LCA-Tejas will enter operational service in Indian Air Force with Israeli supplied Python-5 has its Close Combat Air-to-Air missile (CCM) replacing Russian developed R-73 CCM has its Primary weapon of choice for Close-combat missile which was also the initial choice of Indian Air Force . R-73 CCM was first Air-to-Air missile which was successfully integrated and test fired from LCA-Tejas Pre-production aircraft nearly 6 years ago and had successfully completed its integration with the onboard Digital Stores Management System (SMS), Open Architecture Mission and Display Computer even before it achieved its Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) . Highly reliable sources close to idrw.org have confirmed to us that lack of cooperation from Russia in providing access to its source code and high price demanded in certifying it with Indo-Israeli Multi-Mode Fire control Radar (FCR) was one of the factors in the deal-breaker . IAF and DRDO were also convinced that Israeli Python-5 CCM offered superior performance to R-73 and could provide better integration with FCR of LCA-Tejas. Israeli-developed I-Derby Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) was in operational service in India with recently retired Sea Harrier Jump Jets and later it was also selected as BVRAAM for LCA-Tejas which underwent successfully test firing from LCA-Tejas earlier this year . so it was decided that I-Derby and Python-5 Combo will be ideal Air-to-Air missiles for LCA-Tejas . Python-5 offered the off-boresight capability of greater than 90 degrees as compared to 60 degrees on the R-73 . Python-5 features both Lock-on After Launch (LOAL) and Lock on before Launch (LOBL) capability when compared to R-73 which only offered LOBL capabilities . Python-5 also offered improved IRCCM (Infrared counter-countermeasures) as a result of its dual-band Imaging Infra-red seeker. Israel already has offered its current I-Derby BVRAAM operators with newly revealed I-Derby ER ( Extended Range ) missile with the ability to hit the target at 100kms when compared to 60km plus offered by Previous Gen I-Derby which will require no major changes to aircraft FCR which is already been integrated with its older I-Derby BVRAAMs. India also plans to integrate its indigenously developed Astra BVRAAM at present undergoing developmental trials from sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft with LCA-Tejas in near future and also has plans to develop longer Astra-II with extended range .

..http://idrw.org . Read more at India No 1 Defence News Website , Kindly don http://idrw.org/india-replacing-rus...t-air-air-missile-israeli-python-5-lca-tejas/ .

IS THIS TRUE ?