A bulged canopy is part of the solution, not the problem! In fact, it is the same trick as on the Boeing 747-800, which is to introduce a hump ahead of the wings. Read on!
delhidefencereview.com
The initial road to the Mk2
However, to meet the IAF’s stringent air staff qualitative requirements (ASQR) for the LCA project, ADA knew that substantial changes to the basic Mk1/Mk1A airframe were required and that is where the genesis of the Tejas Mk2 development program lies. There were two primary concerns: the IAF wanted a fighter that had
faster transonic acceleration and
a higher STR of about 18 degrees per second. As late as Aero India 2017, ADA displayed scale models that aimed to achieve this by
extending the Mk1 with a 0.5 m fuselage plug and fitting a more powerful F414 engine with a maximum rated thrust of 98kN. The
plug was to be inserted just behind the canopy where the area curve had the highest discontinuity (see Area curve in Figure 2). In addition to the plug,
ADA studied a bulged canopy to improve area ruling even further. The combined effect was 6 percent lower supersonic drag, which in turn led to a 20 percent improvement in transonic acceleration and 2 percent improvement in maximum speed [4]. The fuselage plug and bulged spine would also provide space for more internal fuel and LRUs.
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Figure 1
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Figure 2
Compare above to this, the Ideal distribution-
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Having said that Mk2 does not need the bulged canopy at all, thanks to canards-
The canards also help smooth out the discontinuity in the area ruling curve ahead of the wing that exists for Mk1 (see this). By employing a canard and a fatter spine, MWF no longer needs as bulged a canopy as recommended by earlier studies. While those studies predicted a 6 percent supersonic wave drag resulting in a 20 percent improvement in transonic acceleration and 2 percent improvement in maximum speed, MWF is expected to exhibit even greater transonic and supersonic performance improvements given a near perfect area ruling through the changes such as the addition of a nose plug, elongated and fattened front fuselage, optimized canopy shape and rear fuselage. The canards lower the trim drag across the flight envelope, further enhancing overall aircraft performance. As a matter of fact, MWF is expected to have a top speed of Mach 1.8 in level flight with two close-combat missiles (CCMs), which is a 12.5 percent increase over its existing performance.
https://delhidefencereview.com/2019...ows-a-pair-becomes-the-medium-weight-fighter/
the x-sonic acceleration inefficiency in Mk1/A is solely due to area ruling deficiencies- which could be solved by making the plane longer or fatter ahead of wing-like the Boeing 747-800, which has its signature upper deck "hump" placed in such a way as to make the change in cross-section along the plane's fuselage as smooth as possible.
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..increased length, more thrust from F414 and canards are to address that.
Dr Madhusudhana Rao is calling them sensors only (antennae less frequently). 4 sensor DCMAWS on fin forward, spine & belly for spherical coverage.
Same sensor terminology from an old DRDO book
DRDO-a-glimpse-ebook Read more about defence, drdo, trials, laboratory, missile and integrated.
www.yumpu.com
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, however as per BEL (and logic), a 6 axis maws is required for complete coverage.
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