ADA Tejas Mark-II/Medium Weight Fighter

[Super falcon]

Does IAF jas plans to integrate meteor on them also

 

[FalconSlayers]

Does IAF jas plans to integrate meteor on them also

Depends, I don’t think so because we have bought them for Rafales only and we’ll be using our own indigenous Astra Mk-I, Mk-II and Mk-III on them.

 

[MonaLazy]

Does IAF jas plans to integrate meteor on them also

Depends, I don’t think so because we have bought them for Rafales only and we’ll be using our own indigenous Astra Mk-I, Mk-II and Mk-III on them.

Yes! IAF always wanted meteor on LCA. Won't be happening with an Israeli radar, but there are no problems with Uttam Mk1 or Mk2- so both LCA Mk1A & Mk2 will have it.

Israeli radar means Tejas aircraft won't have world-class Meteor missile

The IAF had made the Meteor an essential pre-condition for ordering the fighter in large numbers

www.business-standard.com

 

[Tang]

Meteor integration is possible in Mk2 and MK1a Uttam batch
Asraam will also be integrated across the Tejas Lineup

 

[Dark Sorrow]

Yes! IAF always wanted meteor on LCA. Won't be happening with an Israeli radar, but there are no problems with Uttam Mk1 or Mk2- so both LCA Mk1A & Mk2 will have it.

Israeli radar means Tejas aircraft won't have world-class Meteor missile

The IAF had made the Meteor an essential pre-condition for ordering the fighter in large numbers

www.business-standard.com

Even with Uttam MDBA hasn't offered Meteor.
French want Meteor to be exclusive to European aircraft.
Because of this BAE started a separate project for Meteor like missile with Japanese.
Even if Meteor is available for Uttam AESA on Mk. 2 still we won't be able to effectively use Meteor due to range limitation of Uttam AESA.

 

[Tang]

Even with Uttam MDBA hasn't offered Meteor.
French want Meteor to be exclusive to European aircraft.
Because of this BAE started a separate project for Meteor like missile with Japanese.
Even if Meteor is available for Uttam AESA on Mk. 2 still we won't be able to effectively use Meteor due to range limitation of Uttam AESA.

What is the range of Rafale AESA radar,
And UTTAM Mk2 aesa radar.
With more TRMs uttam Mk2 must have more range than Rafale aesa radar.

 

[Lonewolf]

Even with Uttam MDBA hasn't offered Meteor.
French want Meteor to be exclusive to European aircraft.
Because of this BAE started a separate project for Meteor like missile with Japanese.
Even if Meteor is available for Uttam AESA on Mk. 2 still we won't be able to effectively use Meteor due to range limitation of Uttam AESA.

What's range of meteor as per u

 

[Javelin_Sam]

HAL Trilok will be a suitable name for Tejas Mk2.
1. Starts with 'T'.
2. Trilok- Air(A2A), Land(A2G), Sea(AntiShip missions) also signifies the multirole capability of the fighter.
3. 3rd Indigineous fighter after Marut and Tejas(correct me if wrong)

 

[kunal sung]

Name it PRAHAST
Raavan ke senapati ka naam tha
a very powerful rakshas warrior
I just like the name, i have always liked the sound of it

 

[dumdumdum]

Is this right time to give MK2(MWF) a name? Wouldn't Manohar(Charming, Enchanting, Likeable) be an appropriate name?

Manohar as a tribute to Parikkar isn't a good idea?

 

[HariPrasad-1]

Even with Uttam MDBA hasn't offered Meteor.
French want Meteor to be exclusive to European aircraft.
Because of this BAE started a separate project for Meteor like missile with Japanese.
Even if Meteor is available for Uttam AESA on Mk. 2 still we won't be able to effectively use Meteor due to range limitation of Uttam AESA.

Uttam will have as much range as any other good AESA. Even Uttam initial versions are found to be better than ELTA 2052. The New Uttam, whose fabrication contract is just awarded has more than 900 TR modules. How can some one say that it will not have sufficient range? Anyhow, even best European radar can not detect low RCS plane at a full range of METEOR (160-180 KM). Can Rafale detect Tejas from 160 or even half of the distance of 160 KM? Can Rafale detect Eurofighter from 100 KM away? Answers are no. Meteor has no escape Zone of 60 KM. Evenif, planes are detected from a long distance and BVR is fired, the possibility of BVR hitting the plane is very less Example: 5 AIMS fired on MKI and none could hit it on 27th Feb conflict. Uttam is as good as any contemporary radar with highly optimized software and other features like track while search and capable of changing scanning mode in a fraction of a second. It is way better than BS Chinese radars whose software are not optimized nor the power consumption of TR module is known. India is working on GAN based AESA as well which be able to even detect stealth fighters like F 35.

 

[tsunami]

Even with Uttam MDBA hasn't offered Meteor.
French want Meteor to be exclusive to European aircraft.
Because of this BAE started a separate project for Meteor like missile with Japanese.
Even if Meteor is available for Uttam AESA on Mk. 2 still we won't be able to effectively use Meteor due to range limitation of Uttam AESA.

I don't understand the obsession with meteor... SFDR is already in testing and will be in production couple of years. It is going to have same if not more range compare to Meteor.

 

[Shekhar Singh]

Even with Uttam MDBA hasn't offered Meteor.
French want Meteor to be exclusive to European aircraft.
Because of this BAE started a separate project for Meteor like missile with Japanese.
Even if Meteor is available for Uttam AESA on Mk. 2 still we won't be able to effectively use Meteor due to range limitation of Uttam AESA.

what are the limitations of Uttam mk2 in Tejas MK2?

 

[THESIS THORON]

what are the limitations of Uttam mk2 in Tejas MK2?

no limitations, its peak power is estimated around 20kw but will function around 11kw.

note this is calculated figure (estimated by dfi nibbas)

 

[MonaLazy]

Name it PRAHAST

Too similar to paraast (defeat) otherwise a good choice.

3. 3rd Indigineous fighter after Marut and Tejas(correct me if wrong)

Why don't we resurrect the Marut nameplate? Just like IN does with decommissioned ACCs and subs? This is closest to the manner that original Marut program should have been run.

Manohar as a tribute to Parikkar isn't a good idea?

MP is responsible for Mk1A actually, not Mk2 which is entirely IAFs push.

What is MBDA's issue with Israel? Israel has access to almost everything thats NATO.

Dhanda hai par ganda hai ye! That's the real reason! Explained in some detail below:

Even with Uttam MDBA hasn't offered Meteor.
French want Meteor to be exclusive to European aircraft.
Because of this BAE started a separate project for Meteor like missile with Japanese.
Even if Meteor is available for Uttam AESA on Mk. 2 still we won't be able to effectively use Meteor due to range limitation of Uttam AESA.

They have sir. There are wheels within wheels within wheels. Over time MBDA has changed their position so many times that even the God of dance Nataraj himself would be proud. Even MBDA is not a monolith. Initially, events were controlled by MBDA France, but sensing business slipping away MBDA UK has come around of late. Here's an attempt at setting the record straight:

The basics:
Why Meteor BVR & ASRAAM WVR?
1. IAF is mighty impressed with the missiles
2. Fleet standardization- they wanted Su-30s, Tejas Mk1A & M2K to carry the same combo.

The hems & haws in chronological order:
September 2015
The IAF, HAL and the MoD agreed on specifications for a new improved version called the Tejas Mark 1A, with five specific improvements — including AESA radar and the Meteor missile.
MBDA’s Meteor BVR missile has the matchless ability to engage enemy fighters 200-250 km away, before the adversaries can fire their own missiles. For shooting down aircraft at closer ranges, the IAF wants the Tejas Mark 1A to also carry MBDA’s eponymous Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM).

2017
The IAF issued a formal tender to HAL — termed request for proposal (RFP) — stipulating that the Tejas Mark 1A must have the Meteor and ASRAAM.

Own comment: IAF made a huge mistake by making its love for meteor so obvious as to cement it into the Mk1A standard- the reason why the vendor became overconfident and cocky revealed in interactions with IAF over next few years.

February 19, 2018
In a letter to the IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa, MBDA pointed out that the Meteor “has already been successfully integrated with 3 major European platforms and sensors… The risks inherent to such a demanding Tejas integration programme will be significantly minimised by the selection of a European radar, similar to those with which we have already qualified Meteor”.

May 17, 2018
MBDA wrote again to the IAF chief that with six nations involved in MBDA, clearing the Meteor’s integration with a non-European radar would be complicated. “Therefore, from a purely technical point of view, and considering the required clearances, Meteor on LCA may only be considered with a European radar,” stated MBDA.

May 29, 2018
MBDA wrote yet again to the IAF chief, stating: “As design authority and OEM (original equipment manufacturer) of the Meteor missile, we wish to confirm to you that integration of this missile can only be possible with a European radar and our proprietary data link.” Ruling out any possibility of the Israeli firm carrying out the integration, MBDA categorically stated: “No other mode of integration is possible and any other suggestion from third parties is misinformed.”

own comment: Israel may have offered to integrate the meteor with 2052 AESAR, but MBDA was pushing for European radar because dadagiri and overconfidence I alluded to above.

June 21, 2018
MBDA wrote: “MBDA will not be able to offer Meteor for (Tejas) LCA, if a non-European radar is chosen for that platform — we will not be able to gain 6 Partner Nation clearance. Furthermore, the integration of Meteor is only possible using MBDA’s proprietary datalink technology. No other 3rd party is capable of carrying out Meteor integration.”

July 13, 2018
in response to an IAF query whether the Meteor could be integrated onto the Uttam AESA radar the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) was developing, MBDA gave conditional acceptance on July 13, 2018. Writing to the deputy chief, MBDA wrote: “integration would be perfectly feasible (provided) this DRDO ‘UTTAM’ radar would need to be shown to be completely indigenous.”
Making its security concerns clear, MBDA wrote: “Security concerns (for all parties) over the implementation, architecture and day to day operation would need to be addressed (and) the 6 partner nations would need to obtain access to full working prototypes (of the Uttam radar) before progressing to the next stage.”

Own comment: Sensing a gigantic business opportunity (all the desi fighters with Uttam in their nose) they (conditionally) offered to integrate Uttam with meteor.

October 26, 2018
Despite these repeated cautions from MBDA, the IAF and MoD allowed HAL to choose the lowest-priced AESA radar that could be integrated onto the Tejas. Asked how it had chosen the Elta ELM 2052 AESA radar for the Tejas Mark 1A and ruled out the Thales and Saab radars, HAL chief R Madhavan stated: “The contract has been finalised as per HAL’s techno-commercial (procurement) procedures and the lowest bidder was chosen.”
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) watched from the sidelines as Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) signed two contracts with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), one was for the ELM-2052 “active electronically scanned array” (AESA) radar, developed by IAI subsidiary, Elta. The other was for Elta’s “electronic warfare” (EW) system.
All through 2018, the IAF has known that MBDA would allow the Meteor missile to be integrated only with European (or, conditionally Indian) AESA radars. Yet, the IAF remained silent while HAL’s tendering processes resulted in the selection of the Israeli ELM 2052 AESA radar — and the rejection of two European AESA radars offered by French firm Thales, and Swedish firm Saab.
MBDA France informed the government that they would not integrate their weapon on any Israeli or Russian platform and even refused it to be integrated into a legacy platform like Mirage-2000.

Own comment: MBDA trying to act difficult was given a silent FO by MoD & DRDO & IAF. MBDA France wanted to earlier push European radar, when that cross-sell failed, safeguarding their own selfish business interests they refused integration with Israeli & Russian platforms even M2K so that meteor remains Rafale exclusive in IAF inventory and IAF (being smitten by meteor) is forced to buy more Rafales in turn. It's pure business- all that talk about security concerns with Israeli/Russian radar is just hogwash. But the cartel seems to be falling apart:

February 15, 2020
While it looked like a unilateral decision by France imposed on other key partners in MBDA like the United Kingdom, India might have recently tasted some success in breaking this blockade when MBDA UK agreed to sell and integrate Meteor BVRAAMs on the upgraded Mirage-2000 fleet of Indian Air Force, which looks like a major disagreement with the MBDA France which was trying to make Meteor BVRAAMs, Dassault Rafale Exclusive to secure their chances for further orders of the same platform from India.
MBDA France had told Indian Air Force that they would not integrate the Meteor missile on either Russian platforms or with the Israeli equipment which can create issues thus ruling out it from Sukhoi 30 and Tejas Mk1A fleet which might be further extended to future IAF fleet of MWF-AF, ORCA and even AMCA fighter jets since they will not use any European radar which MBDA UK believes could kill sale of Meteor missile in large numbers to India.
MBDA France condition of European Radar is already falling apart since both UK and Italian Air Forces have decided to arm Meteor missile on Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II which comes equipped with AN/APG-81 AESA) radar system designed by Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems.
While India is developing Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) aka Astra Mk2 jointly with Russia which has Ramjet propulsion and has operational performance matching close to Meteor missile but the missile is far from being ready to be deployed from any fighter jet and still going through phase-1 developmental trials from the ground launch stations and probably will take close to a decade before all developmental trials are completed and it is ready to enter production.
Sensing a business opportunity here, idrw.org has been informed that, MBDA UK has offered to jointly develop a Meteor derived missile with Indian technology created for Astra MkI and MkII in a very short period which can be jointly locally manufactured for the whole fleet of IAF fighter fleet if accepted by India.
India already has replaced Russian Agat 9B1103M active radar seeker borrowed from RVV-AE (R-77) BVRAAM used on the Astra missile with an Indian Ku-band seeker developed by the DRDO and reportedly has been working on an enhanced version of the seeker for the MkII program for a quick turn around program, MBDA UK might have offered Meteor derived missile with Indian Ku-band seeker on similar lines it offered to integrate AESA radar seeker from AAM-4B BVRAAM into new Meteor derived missile called as Joint New Air-to-Air Missile (JNAAM) which MBDA UK is developing with Japan for its F-35 fleet.

Why only European radar? (the official MBDA version)
A BVR missile like the Meteor must be tightly integrated with the fighter’s radar. At the time the missile is fired, its on-board seeker cannot lock onto the target, which is too far away. During the initial period of the missile’s flight, the aircraft’s radar tracks the adversary fighter and transmits directions to the missile through two-way data links. Only when the Meteor reaches a few tens of kilometres from the enemy fighter does its on-board seeker get activated and homes onto the target. Given the missile’s tight relationship with the radar, there is a need for deep integration and sharing of source codes.
In its letters to the IAF, MBDA has cited technology security concerns that integrating the Meteor with Israeli radar would endanger secret source codes and technologies. MBDA, a consortium of firms from six European countries, also believes getting clearances from six capitals would be complicated.

HAL's view-
From HAL’s perspective, Elta’s ELM 2052 AESA is the logical choice of radar. The Israeli firm developed this radar specifically for the IAF’s on-going upgrade of 61 Jaguars. For that upgrade — which involves fitting AESA radar to enhance the Jaguar’s capability — Elta developed the ELM 2052 AESA radar at its own cost, apparently in the expectation that it would also find place in future Tejas upgrades. With the IAF poised to clear the Jaguar upgrade, the ELM 2052 radar could quickly go into production in India in an IAI-HAL joint venture.
With the ELM 2052 AESA radar being built for two fighter programmes — the Jaguar upgrade and the Tejas Mark 1A — it would work out significantly cheaper than the Thales and Saab radars, making Elta’s price bid the most attractive.

Why is ASRAAM WVR not impacted?
The choice of radar would not impact the integration of ASRAAM. Being a short-range missile, ASRAAM is guided by its own seeker from launch onwards, and so does not require integration with the on-board radar.


Sources:

https://www.drdo.gov.in/sites/default/files/drdo-news-documents/DRDO_News_24_Nov_2019.pdf

MBDA UK might have a solution to Meteor BVRAAM blockade by MBDA France to India – Indian Defence Research Wing

idrw.org

 

[MonaLazy]

https://www.drdo.gov.in/sites/default/files/drdo-news-documents/DRDO_News_24_Nov_2019.pdf

A casual reading of the above establishes these facts (hard to dispute given where they are coming from): Meteor can engage enemy fighter planes at 200-250kms. At the time the missile is fired, it relies on the aircraft's radar to track the adversary and make corrections via 2-way data links. Only when metoer is few 10's of kms away from enemy fighter it activates it's on board seeker and homes on to target.

To the gurus here:
Does this mean EL/M 2052 AESA (not integrated because of purely commercial reasons) or Uttam Mk1 (meteor integration possible) armed Tejas Mk1A can see enemy planes that far? 200-250kms??

 

[Covfefe]

https://www.drdo.gov.in/sites/default/files/drdo-news-documents/DRDO_News_24_Nov_2019.pdf

View attachment 131337

View attachment 131336

A casual reading of the above establishes these facts (hard to dispute given where they are coming from): Meteor can engage enemy fighter planes at 200-250kms. At the time the missile is fired, it relies on the aircraft's radar to track the adversary and make corrections via 2-way data links. Only when metoer is few 10's of kms away from enemy fighter it activates it's on board seeker and homes on to target.

To the gurus here:
Does this mean EL/M 2052 AESA (not integrated because of purely commercial reasons) or Uttam Mk1 (meteor integration possible) armed Tejas Mk1A can see enemy planes that far? 200-250kms??

Bhai you are the guru, aise confusing signals kyun de raha hai. Just in the post above you wrote a long ass paragraph on how Meteor WILL be integrated with LCA, in the next post you give some credible concerns on its usability with the platform owing to its radar restrictions. Why dis Kolaveri?

 

[MonaLazy]

Bhai you are the guru, aise confusing signals kyun de raha hai. Just in the post above you wrote a long ass paragraph on how Meteor WILL be integrated with LCA, in the next post you give some credible concerns on its usability with the platform owing to its radar restrictions. Why dis Kolaveri?

Please, I am no guru! Learning as I go from great folks like you & everyone else here.. Meteor equivalent capability will come to Tejas Mk1A that is not in doubt. I had read about the conditional acceptance for Uttam back in 2018, but learnt of the Super Meteor offered by MBDA UK from @HariPrasad-1's post recently. So either we will send 6 production Uttam Mk1s to the 6 partners (offered in 2018) OR go ahead with MBDA UKs 2020 offer to rapidly develop a meteor equivalent missile based on Astra Mk1 & Mk2 tech with Indian seeker. Whatever way is chosen the capability is coming for sure to Mk1A via Uttam Mk1 as meteor OR meteor derived OR some equivalent from DRDO.

From Feb 5, 2019:

Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) claims to be in the final stretch of proving its Astra beyond visual range air-to-air missile, a weapon system comparable on paper to the capabilities demonstrated by MBDA’s Meteor. The DRDO, on its part, has argued against any roll-out of the Meteor beyond the Rafale fleet in Indian service, assuring the IAF that the Astra is in the pipeline and will meet all performance requirements. MBDA has expressed its willingness to work with DRDO on a variety of programs in the past, and will be keeping discussions going since the Meteor could well be a fit on the future AMCA fifth generation jet.

This Week, IAF's Dreams Of Meteor-Armed LCA Tejas Could Formally Die - Livefist

In eight months, the Indian Air Force begins receiving its first of 36 Rafale jets, armed with the the world's longest range air-to-air missile, the Meteor. Highly impressed with the capabilities of the European weapon system, the Indian Air Force had in early 2018 proposed a separate effort to arm…

www.livefistdefence.com

Please dis-regard the pessimistic tone of the heading in this article- MBDA UK made the meteor derived offer later in 2020. Everybody wants to stay in business.

 

[Covfefe]

Please, I am no guru! Learning as I go from great folks like you & everyone else here.. Meteor will come to Tejas that is not in doubt. I had read about the conditional acceptance for Uttam back in 2018, but learnt of the Super Meteor offered by MBDA UK from @HariPrasad-1's post recently. So either we will send 6 production Uttam Mk1s to the 6 partners (offered in 2018) OR go ahead with MBDA UKs 2020 offer to rapidly develop a meteor equivalent missile based on Astra Mk1 & Mk2 tech with Indian seeker. Whatever way is chosen the capability is coming for sure to Mk1A via Uttam Mk1 or via something from DRDO.

From Feb 5, 2019:

This Week, IAF's Dreams Of Meteor-Armed LCA Tejas Could Formally Die - Livefist

In eight months, the Indian Air Force begins receiving its first of 36 Rafale jets, armed with the the world's longest range air-to-air missile, the Meteor. Highly impressed with the capabilities of the European weapon system, the Indian Air Force had in early 2018 proposed a separate effort to arm…

www.livefistdefence.com

Hope the integration comes to life. And DRDO should stop doing bakchodi for every small to large ticket foreign procurement for which they don't have a product 'ready'. They have conducted some SFDR tests and that's pretty much about it. An actual missile developed, integrated with the jet, and tested under various circumstances is a far-fetched goal at the moment(should have been more so in 2019)- while Meteor is a ready and tested product. Even from an integration and acquisition cost standpoint, it doesn't make any sense to let go off this great product that we have access to. An inventory of 150-200 missiles procured in tranches (each costing around 3 million USD) would keep the deal to half a billion USD which isn't all that big by AF standards, and the capability it brings is immense. DRDO fellas, in true sense, are yet to establish the worthiness of their dual pulse tech in A2A roles let alone SFDR. Inter-department rivalry shouldn't hamper the capability-cost calculations like this. (Just guess how fast Chongs or Pakis would've jumped at the opportunity to acquire these if they were made available to them at all)

 

[IndianHawk]

Too similar to paraast (defeat) otherwise a good choice.



Why don't we resurrect the Marut nameplate? Just like IN does with decommissioned ACCs and subs? This is closest to the manner that original Marut program should have been run.



MP is responsible for Mk1A actually, not Mk2 which is entirely IAFs push.



Dhanda hai par ganda hai ye! That's the real reason! Explained in some detail below:



They have sir. There are wheels within wheels within wheels. Over time MBDA has changed their position so many times that even the God of dance Nataraj himself would be proud. Even MBDA is not a monolith. Initially, events were controlled by MBDA France, but sensing business slipping away MBDA UK has come around of late. Here's an attempt at setting the record straight:

The basics:
Why Meteor BVR & ASRAAM WVR?
1. IAF is mighty impressed with the missiles
2. Fleet standardization- they wanted Su-30s, Tejas Mk1A & M2K to carry the same combo.

The hems & haws in chronological order:
September 2015
The IAF, HAL and the MoD agreed on specifications for a new improved version called the Tejas Mark 1A, with five specific improvements — including AESA radar and the Meteor missile.
MBDA’s Meteor BVR missile has the matchless ability to engage enemy fighters 200-250 km away, before the adversaries can fire their own missiles. For shooting down aircraft at closer ranges, the IAF wants the Tejas Mark 1A to also carry MBDA’s eponymous Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM).

2017
The IAF issued a formal tender to HAL — termed request for proposal (RFP) — stipulating that the Tejas Mark 1A must have the Meteor and ASRAAM.

Own comment: IAF made a huge mistake by making its love for meteor so obvious as to cement it into the Mk1A standard- the reason why the vendor became overconfident and cocky revealed in interactions with IAF over next few years.

February 19, 2018
In a letter to the IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa, MBDA pointed out that the Meteor “has already been successfully integrated with 3 major European platforms and sensors… The risks inherent to such a demanding Tejas integration programme will be significantly minimised by the selection of a European radar, similar to those with which we have already qualified Meteor”.

May 17, 2018
MBDA wrote again to the IAF chief that with six nations involved in MBDA, clearing the Meteor’s integration with a non-European radar would be complicated. “Therefore, from a purely technical point of view, and considering the required clearances, Meteor on LCA may only be considered with a European radar,” stated MBDA.

May 29, 2018
MBDA wrote yet again to the IAF chief, stating: “As design authority and OEM (original equipment manufacturer) of the Meteor missile, we wish to confirm to you that integration of this missile can only be possible with a European radar and our proprietary data link.” Ruling out any possibility of the Israeli firm carrying out the integration, MBDA categorically stated: “No other mode of integration is possible and any other suggestion from third parties is misinformed.”

own comment: Israel may have offered to integrate the meteor with 2052 AESAR, but MBDA was pushing for European radar because dadagiri and overconfidence I alluded to above.

June 21, 2018
MBDA wrote: “MBDA will not be able to offer Meteor for (Tejas) LCA, if a non-European radar is chosen for that platform — we will not be able to gain 6 Partner Nation clearance. Furthermore, the integration of Meteor is only possible using MBDA’s proprietary datalink technology. No other 3rd party is capable of carrying out Meteor integration.”

July 13, 2018
in response to an IAF query whether the Meteor could be integrated onto the Uttam AESA radar the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) was developing, MBDA gave conditional acceptance on July 13, 2018. Writing to the deputy chief, MBDA wrote: “integration would be perfectly feasible (provided) this DRDO ‘UTTAM’ radar would need to be shown to be completely indigenous.”
Making its security concerns clear, MBDA wrote: “Security concerns (for all parties) over the implementation, architecture and day to day operation would need to be addressed (and) the 6 partner nations would need to obtain access to full working prototypes (of the Uttam radar) before progressing to the next stage.”

Own comment: Sensing a gigantic business opportunity (all the desi fighters with Uttam in their nose) they (conditionally) offered to integrate Uttam with meteor.

October 26, 2018
Despite these repeated cautions from MBDA, the IAF and MoD allowed HAL to choose the lowest-priced AESA radar that could be integrated onto the Tejas. Asked how it had chosen the Elta ELM 2052 AESA radar for the Tejas Mark 1A and ruled out the Thales and Saab radars, HAL chief R Madhavan stated: “The contract has been finalised as per HAL’s techno-commercial (procurement) procedures and the lowest bidder was chosen.”
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) watched from the sidelines as Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) signed two contracts with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), one was for the ELM-2052 “active electronically scanned array” (AESA) radar, developed by IAI subsidiary, Elta. The other was for Elta’s “electronic warfare” (EW) system.
All through 2018, the IAF has known that MBDA would allow the Meteor missile to be integrated only with European (or, conditionally Indian) AESA radars. Yet, the IAF remained silent while HAL’s tendering processes resulted in the selection of the Israeli ELM 2052 AESA radar — and the rejection of two European AESA radars offered by French firm Thales, and Swedish firm Saab.
MBDA France informed the government that they would not integrate their weapon on any Israeli or Russian platform and even refused it to be integrated into a legacy platform like Mirage-2000.

Own comment: MBDA trying to act difficult was given a silent FO by MoD & DRDO & IAF. MBDA France wanted to earlier push European radar, when that cross-sell failed, safeguarding their own selfish business interests they refused integration with Israeli & Russian platforms even M2K so that meteor remains Rafale exclusive in IAF inventory and IAF (being smitten by meteor) is forced to buy more Rafales in turn. It's pure business- all that talk about security concerns with Israeli/Russian radar is just hogwash. But the cartel seems to be falling apart:

February 15, 2020
While it looked like a unilateral decision by France imposed on other key partners in MBDA like the United Kingdom, India might have recently tasted some success in breaking this blockade when MBDA UK agreed to sell and integrate Meteor BVRAAMs on the upgraded Mirage-2000 fleet of Indian Air Force, which looks like a major disagreement with the MBDA France which was trying to make Meteor BVRAAMs, Dassault Rafale Exclusive to secure their chances for further orders of the same platform from India.
MBDA France had told Indian Air Force that they would not integrate the Meteor missile on either Russian platforms or with the Israeli equipment which can create issues thus ruling out it from Sukhoi 30 and Tejas Mk1A fleet which might be further extended to future IAF fleet of MWF-AF, ORCA and even AMCA fighter jets since they will not use any European radar which MBDA UK believes could kill sale of Meteor missile in large numbers to India.
MBDA France condition of European Radar is already falling apart since both UK and Italian Air Forces have decided to arm Meteor missile on Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II which comes equipped with AN/APG-81 AESA) radar system designed by Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems.
While India is developing Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) aka Astra Mk2 jointly with Russia which has Ramjet propulsion and has operational performance matching close to Meteor missile but the missile is far from being ready to be deployed from any fighter jet and still going through phase-1 developmental trials from the ground launch stations and probably will take close to a decade before all developmental trials are completed and it is ready to enter production.
Sensing a business opportunity here, idrw.org has been informed that, MBDA UK has offered to jointly develop a Meteor derived missile with Indian technology created for Astra MkI and MkII in a very short period which can be jointly locally manufactured for the whole fleet of IAF fighter fleet if accepted by India.
India already has replaced Russian Agat 9B1103M active radar seeker borrowed from RVV-AE (R-77) BVRAAM used on the Astra missile with an Indian Ku-band seeker developed by the DRDO and reportedly has been working on an enhanced version of the seeker for the MkII program for a quick turn around program, MBDA UK might have offered Meteor derived missile with Indian Ku-band seeker on similar lines it offered to integrate AESA radar seeker from AAM-4B BVRAAM into new Meteor derived missile called as Joint New Air-to-Air Missile (JNAAM) which MBDA UK is developing with Japan for its F-35 fleet.

Why only European radar? (the official MBDA version)
A BVR missile like the Meteor must be tightly integrated with the fighter’s radar. At the time the missile is fired, its on-board seeker cannot lock onto the target, which is too far away. During the initial period of the missile’s flight, the aircraft’s radar tracks the adversary fighter and transmits directions to the missile through two-way data links. Only when the Meteor reaches a few tens of kilometres from the enemy fighter does its on-board seeker get activated and homes onto the target. Given the missile’s tight relationship with the radar, there is a need for deep integration and sharing of source codes.
In its letters to the IAF, MBDA has cited technology security concerns that integrating the Meteor with Israeli radar would endanger secret source codes and technologies. MBDA, a consortium of firms from six European countries, also believes getting clearances from six capitals would be complicated.

HAL's view-
From HAL’s perspective, Elta’s ELM 2052 AESA is the logical choice of radar. The Israeli firm developed this radar specifically for the IAF’s on-going upgrade of 61 Jaguars. For that upgrade — which involves fitting AESA radar to enhance the Jaguar’s capability — Elta developed the ELM 2052 AESA radar at its own cost, apparently in the expectation that it would also find place in future Tejas upgrades. With the IAF poised to clear the Jaguar upgrade, the ELM 2052 radar could quickly go into production in India in an IAI-HAL joint venture.
With the ELM 2052 AESA radar being built for two fighter programmes — the Jaguar upgrade and the Tejas Mark 1A — it would work out significantly cheaper than the Thales and Saab radars, making Elta’s price bid the most attractive.

Why is ASRAAM WVR not impacted?
The choice of radar would not impact the integration of ASRAAM. Being a short-range missile, ASRAAM is guided by its own seeker from launch onwards, and so does not require integration with the on-board radar.


Sources:

https://www.drdo.gov.in/sites/default/files/drdo-news-documents/DRDO_News_24_Nov_2019.pdf

MBDA UK might have a solution to Meteor BVRAAM blockade by MBDA France to India – Indian Defence Research Wing

idrw.org

Now that is a quality post . Very well researched.