May i have a turn at putting forward a different perspective.
For starers try to forget everything Time of India is saying , all they have done is criticizes every aspect of it , unecessarliy , just because they have retrospective point of view does not mean , you don't consider the ground realties of the time
30 - 40 yrs and still IOC is pending and they are talking about MCA
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Even with the delays it has not been 30 years yet. all things considered its just been a little over 21 years since , since development of the Tejas aircraft started.
was'nt the LCA programme commissioned to begin on 1983? if not i apologise
Key words in thta statement is
"LCA programme" .
In 1983, the DRDO obtained permission to initiate a programme to design and develop a Light Combat Aircraft, only this time, a different management approach would be taken. In 1984, the Aeronautical Development Agency was established to manage the LCA programme. The ADA is effectively a "national consortium" for which HAL is the principal partner. HAL serves as the prime contractor and has leading responsibility for LCA design, systems integration, airframe manufacturing, aircraft final assembly, flight testing, and service support.
At this time , the only thing that was initiated was the plan of building a plane in India using its defense sector.
The time between 1983 and 1985, was spent with DRDO/HAL actually getting ready for the project. Making facilities , getiing infrastructure equipment e.t.c .
This was the first time something like this had been attempted in India and a a lot of infrastructure had to be built up from the ground
This is because all they had at this point was the program goal
the initiatives to develop an indigenous flight control system, radar, and engine for the LCA. The National Aeronautics Laboratory (NAL)—now called the National Aerospace Laboratories—was selected to lead the development of the flight control laws, supported by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), which is responsible for developing the integrated fly-by-wire FCS itself. HAL and the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE)[19] are jointly developing the Tejas' Multi-Mode Radar (MMR). The Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) is responsible for the design and parallel development of the GTX-35VS Kaveri afterburning turbofan engine for the Tejas — which will be using the General Electric F404 turbofan as an interim powerplant until the Kaveri becomes available.
to develop a 4th generation fighter aircraft. And the IAF did not even submit its requirements until the end of 1985.
The IAF's Air Staff Requirement for the LCA would not be finalised until October 1985. This delay rendered moot the original schedule which called for first flight in April 1990 and service entry in 1995; however, it would also prove a boon in that it gave the ADA time to better marshal national R&D and industrial resources, recruit personnel, create infrastructure, and to gain a clearer perspective of which advanced technologies could be developed indigenously and which would need to be imported.
Project definition (PD) commenced in October 1987 and was completed in September 1988.
So that's about it . they did not even have the project definition until 1988.
Dassault Aviation of France was hired as a consultant to review the PD and provide advice based on its extensive aviation expertise. The PD phase is a critical early element in the aircraft design and development process because from this flow key elements of the detailed design, manufacturing approach, and maintenance requirements. Moreover, this is the point at which overall programme costs are most effectively controlled. The costs to implement subsequent changes to design requirements, capabilities and features become increasingly expensive the further down the path of development they are introduced, and the more likely the program is to suffer schedule and cost overruns.
Well the remainder of the decade was spent, the development of the KAveri engine also started a bit before the Tejas which started in 1993.
And as you remember the near economic collapse and subsequent crunch of the early 1990's and late 80's there was nmot much funding to go around .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_Tejas_timeline
if your interested in getting to know the proper time line for the Tejas.
i would like to see the LCA first before even talking about MCA they are doing the same mistake that they did on LCA they promise 5th gen technology when they do not even have the technical knowhow to develop even a decent 3++ or a 4th gen A/C (Radars, Engines,EW suites)then they blame the airforce for not supporting them
You clearly are criticizing our scientists here, contrary to all your statement to ppgj .
And i have to disagree with you, the level of funding , manpower and technical capabilities that exist in the nation right now has risen exponentially. You are selling us shot on this.
Tejas is a legacy project , its gone on for too long , thats part of the problem in our attempts to keep up with creeping requirements , we have not just developed one system but multiple systems , just building on one another in development it self.
That is the kind of capability that exists right now, and with some of the Tejas development coming to a close after 2013 , we need to focus on using the expertise we have gained on other projects.
And that is what we are doing right now with the AMCA , planning the next step, AMCA is still in the very preliminary stages,
For perspective its still between 1983-1986 phase of the LCA program. as the requirements are finalized we will see a technology and infrastructure build up .
Why are you discussing this point here? have i ever blamed the scientist for anything? I am not arguing that aspect at all i completly agree with the circumstances they faced all i am saying is before issuing any comments on future projects please make sure there is enough technical capabilities on our end which is possible only after we succesfully develop the LCA mk-2 and mk-3 versions (only around 2015 to 2020)
As i pointed our you did criticizes our scientists.
all i am saying is our indian scientists need to be careful when they comment that they CAN or they have to DEVELOP
How else will they get funding.
you mean to tell me that our scientist just started developing jet engines with 4++ gen a/c without doing 1st 2ne and 3rd gen a/c thats a load of C@#P remember HF Maarut!
Please understand , when you build a car you don't build the first car ever maid and then improve on them( India never made a 1st and 2nd gen engines). You just build the modern model. And when you have to make your first car of that type its going to be a challenge , compared to making your second or even third
HAl MArrut used every manner of foreign equipment. even a foreign designer, the aircraft was underpowered and over produced. To put it in perspective it was our JF-17 .
When Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) set out to make the GTX-35VS Kaveri Engine .
These were their only accomplishments before then.
Principal achievements of Gas Turbine Research Establishment include:
Design and development of India's "first centrifugal type 10kN thrust engine" between 1959-61.
Design and development of a "1700K reheat system" for the Orpheus 703 engine to boost its power. The redesigned system was certified in 1973.
Successful upgrade of the reheat system of the Orpheus 703 to 2000K.
Improvement of the Orpheus 703 engine by replacing "the front subsonic compressor stage" with a "transonic compressor stage" to increase the "basic dry thrust " of the engine.
Design and development of a "demonstrator" gas turbine engine—GTX 37-14U—for fighter aircraft. Performance trials commenced in 1977 and the "demonstrator phase" was completed in 1981. The GTX 37-14U was "configured" and "optimized" to build a "low by-pass ratio jet engine" for "multirole performance aircraft. This engine was dubbed GTX 37-14U B.
The last one is the most significant, but they had to build the infrastructure from ground up to make an actual combat engine.
And to this day India still lacks a high altitude testing facility , so all out engines are sent to Russia for high altitude testing testing .
you cannot just wake u one day and decide to build a fighter jet like that GTRE and DRDO has been building and developing a/c engines for a loong time check out there website this was just a lack of proper project management by MOD (READ MOD NOT OUR SCIENTIST) and don't compare other countries scientist they have systematically evolved by every generation
But thats exactly what happened.
After years of neglect in out own indigenous defense sector, elements inside our government and gave our people their biggest challenge.(keep in mind India had only recently detonated her first nuclear device in 1976 , effectively silencing Pakistan and its arms' race with us, we could divert resource from what was then our meager defense budget from imports to Indigenous development)
it took them nearly 7 years of preparation between 1983 and 1991 . When the aircraft design was finalized and ready for development
and you already assumed that they have mastered building a/c !!
I agree with you , we are not masters ppgj jumper the gun with this statement, but we certainly are not the same rookies that attempted such an ambitious plan in the first place. Our agency;s have gained tremendous experience and technical know how.
Both in their set backs and their achievements.
Again please be practical they have yet to prove there capabilities of LCA
over 1200 test flights, it may not be seeing combat , but its not as if it's brand new prototype either.
It still is the worlds lightest fighter aircraft built with a unique carbon composite airframe. Designed to be built in 2/3 the time of a regular aircraft.
Featuring advanced negative RSS and its highly complex FCL and FBL systems. With 0 crashes.
It also clocked a speed of mach 1.2 when flying a little over sea level
These are some of the proven capabilities.
you do realise that there is still a LOONG road ahed to make a 100% indegineous radaror EW suite
just because we worked with a foreign partner you assumed all we did is hand them the pen and paper and wait for them to finish.
it ever occur to you that perhaps we may have worked alongside them, gaining experience in actually making an EW suit.
Not saying that the Israeli's gave us their trade secrets , but it was a joint development, much like many other projects. and we were part of its development every step of the way.
]and engines for LCA which are the main areas of an a/c which we are still developing but already we are masters?
I have yet to see an indigenous engine made by SAAB for the Grihpen or one made by China for the J-10 .
None the less both these projects fail to suffer the same type of criticism.
The Kaveri mk-1 may not see action on the Tejas-mk1 due to what ever reason, but the engine itself has numerous applications outside of the Tejas as well, that means the engine is nearing completion .
and the kaveri program still has not come to an end.
They are making a Kaveri mk-2 with even more thrust
lets just be practical you do realise the amount of research needed to master the stealth technology and just by adding composites you cannot make the a/c automatically stealthy please, compare the B-2 with any of the a/c in the MMRCA and you will know
There is absolutly no harm in trying but all i am saying is first do a self assessment of your capabilities and then comment do not commit saying that you will develop 5th gen technology when you are yet to master the 4th gen technology
The IAF said the same exact thins in 1983 , when it was suggested that India make her own plane.
Explain to me why this time in 2010 they believe DRDO capable for meeting the requirements. IAF also working much closer with their R&D partners this time around. To day at least IAF knows , what has changed in the last 30 years. And they are are showing confidence. And correcting the mistakes of the LCA program , which included the IAF 's on lack of support at points.
Againn i am not critisizing the LCA or our scientist all i am saying is first finish and sort out the probs on this project(read radar, engines and avionics which will only be ready by 2015-2016) first so we can atleast carry the expertise to the MCA then go to the next level
that statement alone will tell you , its not all about our achievements, but also about what we have not been able to achieve as of yet.
We did not make our own MMR to work as preferred. But we made a hybrid with Israeli systems. But it it still belongs to us , and gives us our own radar.
We could not make an engine which fully meets the latest IAF requirements but we made one that meets the 1996 requirements.
And even that does not mean the end, we ill be continually trying to improve on it , trying to develop better and more sophisticated systems.
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In closing , i am not saying that there were not governmental deficiency's with the LCA program , there were tonnes but they exist every where in all nations. And if that is your concern then i am afraid those deficiency's can't be solved so quickly or easily and we cant keep our defense needs waiting for them to get fixed. we have to go ahead and fix them at the same time.
Capabilities wise , if we don't have it we will build them. its as simple as that. India has reached a point where it both has the capability and the money to peruse, Building and gaining new capability.
For a successful example take a look at India's space program.
in the 70's
This was done in under 40 years.
Now how can you tell me it is impossible for DRDO/HAL to build a stealth fighter , despite their partnership on the T-50 program.
P.S - I know its a big read , and am sorry. but if you cant be bothered reading the whole thing please don't bother replying at all