ADA Tejas (LCA) News and Discussions

[Rahul Singh]

In short if India has any hope of fielding a Conventional Aircraft Carrier (IAC-2) with Catapults anytime in the next 15 years. It will need the help of the US. Sorry, if you don't like it......it's just the reality of the situation.

Day the truth, US doesn't holds monopoly over Aircraft Carrier's steam catapults.

A similar engineering solution was envisioned for the incomplete Ulyanovsk super-carrier, whose keel was laid down in 1988, but the project was cancelled when it was 40% complete along with a sister ship in 1991 after the end of the Cold War.

By that time, the Soviet Union had developed steam catapults and tested an experimental version at the ground-based NITKA training facility incorporating a ski-jump and deck arrestor. Consequently, this task is feasible.

 

[Rahul Singh]

PV-1 has enough time, K9 under testing in Russia is not going to come soon, say in not less than 8 months, so ample time for modification. It will not be good to tweak LSPs for K9, conserve them for other thing like testing new avionics etc.

 

[EagleOne]

LSP-5 gears up for first flight

ADA and HAL is all geared up to conduct first flight of LSP-5 and as per source ,ground runs are been carried out and first flight is expected by mid or second last week of this month , LSP-5 will be carrying new layout of the cockpit as per suggestions from the pilots who have been flying them and it also will be carrying Radio aid which will be used for Weapons Testing.
LSP-5 will have all integrated sensors that includes having night lighting within the cockpit, and an auto-pilot , this will be third LSP Tejas to be rolled out of HAL Complex this year , in April this year LSP-3 with MMR radar was rolled out making it first Tejas to have an on-board radar .

HAL is also working to complete LSP-6 and have its first flight by end of this year LSP-6 will be used to further explore Angle of Attack (AOA) and also do minor improvements to its airframe , as per unconfirmed information provided by source to www.lca-tejas.org LSP-6 will also be a Test bed aircraft to incorporate newer avionics and other subsystems which will be developed for Tejas Mk-2 ,we have to still verify this claim from multiple sources


http://idrw.org/?p=155

 

[nitesh]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gene...eadline=Top LCA-Navy Team In Russia For Talks

"Building the SBTF in Goa is a huge technological challenge for ADA and the Indian Navy, and Russian help is critical. It will have to be an exact ship-on-the-shore facility based on India's Indigenous Aircraft Carrier being built at Cochin Shipyard," the official said. "The measurements are the same as IAC and it must have all equipment to simulate an aircraft carrier with ski-jump and arrested recovery. Hence, the current project review being undertaken with the Russians is crucial in many ways."

 

[mohanraj]

Apart from new engine and radar and new electronic , what all the other changes that can be expected in LCA MKII ?
Will the new airframe of LCA MKII use canard-delta wing configuration and will there be any change in air intake design

 

[nrj]

Apart from new engine and radar and new electronic , what all the other changes that can be expected in LCA MKII ?
Will the new airframe of LCA MKII use canard-delta wing configuration and will there be any change in air intake design

@Canard-Delta wing

That would involve the fundamental changes in the overall structure. I am skeptical about the possibility.

@Air intake design

Quite possible but not so early. The rectangular air-intake design on the lines of US jets we know is quite difficult. The development & testing time for the same is considerably high so I won't expect it in the starting blocks of LCA MK-II.

 

[arps]

Apart from new engine and radar and new electronic , what all the other changes that can be expected in LCA MKII ?
Will the new airframe of LCA MKII use canard-delta wing configuration and will there be any change in air intake design

They will be changing the aro dynamics to make it more flexible , to improve the angle of attack and to improve the payload.May be they will increase the wing space also.As new engine will give more thrust,so there r ample space to increase the payload.

 

[EagleOne]

IOC In Sight, IAF Chief Scopes Out Tejas Sim

Source:livefist

 

[vijay jagannathan]

did you know??? ---- of the 1400 odd test flights LCA has done only 3 night flying and that too in 2008. nothing after that.

The latest joke doing the rounds--- Nobody in ADA wants to work overtime..:emot15:

 

[vijay jagannathan]

the ADA website lists no team responsible for having come up with the initial design of LCA. The aircraft just seems to have evolved in their minds.

on a more serious note the airintakes design fall under fluid computational dynamics and there is work going on and the motto is incremental change to intakes and design with full realisation in Mark 2 --- perhaps.

rectangular airintake will definitely make LCA look more muscular. but I guess the naval LCA might do well to retain the current design with improvements .

 

[rakesh]

IAF To Order More Tejas Mk-1s

The Indian Air Force is processing a contract for 20 additional limited series Tejas Mk-1 light fighters -- the ones powered by the underpowered GE F-404-IN20. This will be in addition to the 20 already contracted for a few years ago. While base infrastructure is coming up expeditiously at Sulur, first Tejas deliveries to the IAF will be based at the Bangalore-based Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment (ASTE) for upto a year or more to iron out induction-related troubles. Once the IAF is satisfied that the fighters are well-supported, and all potential issues with HAL are sorted out, the aircraft will be shifted to Sulur. It has emerged that the IAF may choose to either base the second Tejas squadron also at Sulur, or even at nearby Kayathar, where it is in the process of building up a brand new air base. The Tejas is scheduled to achieve initial operational clearance/capability (IOC) in December this year, with the first squadron inducted by next year.


http://livefist.blogspot.com/2010/08/iaf-to-order-more-tejas-mk-1s.html

 

[vijay jagannathan]

despite the much chest thumping about the small size of the airframe and the light matrials composite blah blah the thrust weight of Tejas is less than 1 when the optimal is 1.1. where is the problem? what is contributing to tejas weight? also is there a lot of monitoring eqipment currently installed which is contributing to the load and which of course will be shed?

Rahul what about the Tejas AoA document? any luck?

 

[gogbot]

despite the much chest thumping about the small size of the airframe and the light matrials composite blah blah the thrust weight of Tejas is less than 1 when the optimal is 1.1. where is the problem? what is contributing to tejas weight? also is there a lot of monitoring eqipment currently installed which is contributing to the load and which of course will be shed?

Rahul what about the Tejas AoA document? any luck?

Tejas is already the Lightest fighter aircraft in world.
But not by large margin , Gripen weighs only a few Kg more,
Which it self is feat.

Even the JAS 39 Gripen does not have a Trust to weight Ratio greater than 1
It used to use the same engine as the LCA mind you. A modified version of the GE-404
The New Gripen with the GE-414 engine is supposed to have a Trust to weight Ratio greater than 1.

The same is true for the Tejas. That's why IAF is so persistent of a more powerful engine.
But there are very few Engine that produce the required trust and also fit into the Tejas, it is a challenging task.

Another Problem with the LCA is the AoA.
Articles reference Tejas AoA to be ~20 degree.

IAF want's it to be greater than 21 at least.
Some people have cited poorly designed air intakes as the the reason for such low AoA.

However LCA-N is supposed to have

wing leading edge vortex controllers (LEVCON) to increase lift during approach. The LEVCONs are control surfaces that extend from the wing-root leading edge and thus afford better low-speed handling for the LCA, which would otherwise be slightly hampered due to the increased drag that results from its delta-wing design. As an added benefit, the LEVCONs will also increase controllability at high angles of attack (AoA).

And recent articles quoted Attempts to increase LCA AoA a bit more

 

[nitesh]

Tejas to guard South skies soon

While the first squadron of 20 fighters – already contracted by the IAF to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd – will be stationed in Sulur in Coimbatore, the second squadron may be stationed at Kayathar in Tuticorin, where a new airbase is getting ready, sources told Deccan Herald.

 

[vijay jagannathan]

who is likely to intrude in the southern airspace?:emot159: okay okay please don't say its for better liasing with HAL to iron out problems.

 

[ahmedsid]

who is likely to intrude in the southern airspace?:emot159: okay okay please don't say its for better liasing with HAL to iron out problems.

The South Holds a great deal of Importance for India. We have a Chain of Islands which are strategically located, and not to forget, we have American Presence too. Maybe the USA is not a threat, but what if this deployment is in long term interest? I support the deployment of fighter jets in the South! Time we moved ahead in thinking.

 

[Yusuf]

Interdiction of PLAN anywhere around india. we cannot say there is no threat to south india and leave it unprotected.

 

[Param]

When you have Diego Garcia less than 2000 kms from Cape comorin, with a future presence of the PLAN on a largescale you cannot ignore southern airspace. India is already developing the Tanjore Airbase to make it a major airbase by 2012. There are plans for an even larger airbase in Tirunelveli district close to the southern tip.The LCA even if it is not very good in engaging better enemy fighters, would atleast be able to protect the region from enemy surface vessels or shoot down cruise missiles.

 

[Rahul Singh]

LCA Tejas is being given a home base(that happens to be in southern India) like MKI have in Pune. Home bases are the place where a new fighter is deployed, experienced pilots are posted, they fly the jet extensively, they test its strength and weakness and at last they evolve doctrine and write operational use of this particular jet.

FOB are the places where a squardron is deployed for small time, they go there for weapons training and exposure to war like scenario.

The header of the posted article is naive.

-------------
BTW VJ, hard luck till this time have some 50 CDs to check Hope for the beast.

 

[mehrotraprince]

South India is one of the most important part in present scenerio, being surrounded by ocean and sea we need air cover for our surface fleets, other islands and maritime routes (majority of cargo and goods passes through these routes). At present we need some aircraft for defence of these assets and LCA suitably fits in this slot since its main role in IAF inventory is as interceptor and point defence. With the maturity of LCA and formulation of its doctrine it will serve other purposes too.