The only service that has taken to building in India seriously is the Navy. From basic landing ships in the 60s to the Leanders, to P-16 and now a f*cking Aircraft Carrier and SSBN, the Navy is the only branch that has actually achieved a great measure of indigenisation. And yet, despite all this and the critical role the Navy plays in countering China, it is the most neglected service!
its clear that the Foreign Aircraft lobbies are more powerful than the Warship lobbies. I believed the navy wasnt as corrupted till i realized even they wont let the LCA project to succeed , and neither would they replace those outdated 1960s Seakings with modern Dhruvs for Anti-submarine purposes.
Not the right thread, but I'll answer you anyway.
LCA mk2 was always part of the Navy and be part of the Aircraft Carriers from the start. The Navy invested in the project. I dont see any problem with it being single engined.
I don't think such... When in the recent Aero India they showed a little different design where tail I'd vastly different than this
this is the intake pipe. The end section goes upto the engine intake. Nozzle section is separate.
Sorry I quoted wrong post, the post above the one I quoted.
oh, ok then. I must say the very short "tailboom" is reminiscent of the Marut. And I would be royally disappointed if those rounded nozzles end up with non 3D TVC engines. Non TVC engine paired with higher observable nozzle on a 5th Gen platform is like the worst of both worlds.
If you look closely the model with canards ( 1st and 2nd pic), we can see that its not the current LCA configuration especially the wings .
If we know to make 10, we can make 100. Mass production scaling is not a problem if necessary. What matters is if we can make our own technologies. Making more of the same thing is never a problem. We have huge population at our disposal which will soon be greatest of all in history of mankind.
I have always maintained that we must make LCA MK2 navy first and than curve out Airforce MK2 out of it. Even Proposed Airforce Mk2 with EJ 230 can simply be an @$$ kicker. Imagine a plane aerodynamically superior, weighing just 6.2 ton empty and having a 73 KG dry thrust engine and 108 ton afterburner and range 2500 KM+. Bloody that shall be an @$$ kicker and outclass anything in the world.We need MK-2 but it has to be based on significantly improved Naval Model not marginally improved IAF model.
Naval MK-2 version is not only 0.8 m longer than AF MK-2 version but also has its main landing gear moved out of the fuselage and into wing roots. Which not only provides large freed up space in fuselage --for more fuel and electronics-- but also better aerodynamics because of better wing body blending. Speaking of aerodynamics Naval MK-2 also has LEVCON which can not only be used for reducing speeds during landing but if integrated with FCS can also be used for improving low-speed handling during entire flight regime which in specific terms means shorter take-off and landing distances, tighter turns greater Gs at lesser speeds, better L/D performance etc.
In nutshell, Naval MK-2 can lift higher, fly farther/longer and fight better. Still why IAF and IN is not standardizing on one design is beyond all logic?...........It is another thing that just like IAF even IN now is becoming an import loving service also. God damn the Air Marshals and Admirals(now, also)
Naval Version
I am all in for LCA MK2 for Navy but I am unable to imagine it coming before the Airforce version.
My logic behind the idea is that Once you make an airforce version, you do almost everything once again to make naval version. One you have a naval version, you just have to derate it. More over Naval Mk2 is a real aerodynamic design unlike Airforce Mk2 which is a compromise. Naval Tejas shall have LAVCON which IAF may adopt if they want. Navy has a better record in getting things done.
This version has the potential to give Gripen run for its money. Let alone Gripen E becoming the workhorse of IAF by becoming single-engine fighter winner.......But this is what we think. The Air Marshals along with (now sadly) Admirals think that there are multiple benefits of buying a foreign fighter. One of them are heafty Retirement Benefits.
