Indian Air Force Light Combat Aircraft Tejas India's Second Supersonic Fighter

[WolfPack86]

30 Jun 2017..
On the final day of the first year of Sqn Formation day, HAL, LCA Production Group had the first flight of LCA SP-6 (LA-5006).
After the initial flights, SP-6 will be the fifth member of Flying Daggers..
https://www.facebook.com/pg/tejas.lca/photos/?ref=page_internal

 

[WolfPack86]

TEJAS SP-6 SUCCESSFULY COMPLETES FIRST FLIGHT
The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) - Tejas SP-6 completed its maiden flight from HAL Airport in Bangalore on Friday, 30th June 2017 with Gp. Capt. K K Venugopal (Retd) on the controls. SP-6 will be the fifth member of the First Squadron of LCA Tejas. SP-5 will be next in line and will also be making its first flight soon.

LCA Tejas was inducted into No. 45 Squadron of Indian Air Force (IAF) on 01 Jul 2016, also called the "Flying Daggers" marking the first anniversary on 1st July 2017.
Official TEJAS Website
http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2017/07/tejas-sp-6-successfuly-completes-first.html

 

[WolfPack86]

LCA AF MK2
***************
The MK2 is an improvement over LCA AF Mk1
with higher thrust engine. This aircraft will
have improved survivability, maintainability
and obsolescence mitigation. Active
Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar,
Unified Electronic warfare Suite (UEWS) and
On-Board Oxygen Generation System
(OBOGS) are some of the state of the art
technologies planned to be integrated. The
cockpit design has been improved with
bigger size, smart Multi function Displays
(MFD) and smart Head Up Display (HUD).
The scope of FSED Phase 3 as per project
sanction is as follows:-
Design, develop and build two aircraft with
New Engine
Necessary changes in the structure and
systems to integrate the new engine
Weight reduction to improve performance
Unified EW Suite (UEWS)
Development of new DFCC, its test facilities
and integration
Upgrade/modification/maintenance of test
facilities.
Extensive studies were carried out at ADA to
make suitable changes in LCA AF Mk2 to
address the maintainability issues observed
in LCA AF Mk1, improve the systems like fuel,
landing gear and brakes, electrical,
armament etc. Also a number of new/
upgraded systems have been incorporated
to make the aircraft more contemporary. As
a result, the scope for FSED Phase 3
increased substantially due to extensive
changes incorporated to have an improved
aircraft with improved performance in all
aspects. Important new/ upgrades of
systems are listed below:
Introduction of 500mm plug in fuselage
Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA)
radar
On Board Oxygen Generation System
(OBOGS)
New Cockpit with larger size smart displays
One Mission Management and Display
Computer (MMDC) in place of two Open
Architecture Computers
HMDS based on optical sensor
Smart HUD with improved Field of Vision
Higher power Jet Fuel Starter
Servo controlled Airbrake under the
command of DFCC control
Pressurized Fuel System
Unified Pylon Interface Computer (UPIC) in
place of individual Pylon Interface Boxes
Combined Interrogator Transponder (CIT)
Indigenous Actuators
NVG(Night vision Goggle) compatible
lighting
Activities carried out
Presently, the configuration of LCA AF Mk2
has been frozen with all the design
improvements and Preliminary Design
Review (PDR) has been carried out in June
2014 and detail design is in progress. GE-
F414 engine was selected as the higher
thrust engine for LCA AF Mk2 and a contract
was signed with M/s GE, USA in September
2012. The CDR of alternate engine has been
completed. Engine is undergoing final
qualification and lifting evaluation tests.
Aerodynamics
******************
A number of aerodynamics improvements
have been carried out to reduce drag and
improve performance:
Drag reduction studies have been
completed. Canopy reshaping, outer cowl
modification, actuator fairing extension and
supersonic pylons have resulted in approx
20 counts (8%) drag reduction in
supersonic regimes.
Wind Tunnel studies have been completed.
Aero loads computations have been
completed
Airframe
***********
Three doors AAID finalized.
BMI material developed for high
temperature applications.
Composite pipelines developed for ECS.
Spine widened for providing accessibility
and maintainability.
Pilot step provided for pilot's emergency
egress.
SPS bay redesigned to improve
maintainability.
Engine
*********
Aircraft engine bay ventilation scheme has
been finalised.
Engine-Airframe Interface Control Diagram
(ICD) has been prepared.
Aircraft Qualification Tests have been
completed. ASMET (Air c r a ft Simulated
Mission Endurance Tests) results are under
discussion.
New JFS with higher torque GTSU- 135 is
under development.
Mechanical Systems
**************************
Layouts preparation and detail design is in
progress.
Feasibility to increase wheel size for
increasing the capacity of brake system are
in progress.
Trials to offload one hydraulic system to
reduce the load on JFS during starting are
going on. This will help in cold weather high
altitude operations.
Liquid Cooling System configurations,
separate for AESA and UEWS have been
finalised.
Studies to shift the Air to Air refueling probe
to right are in progress to obviate probe
coming in Field of View of Head Up Display
(HUD).
Integrated Flight Control System
******************************
***********
DFCC: CDR completed Realization st of QT unit
by 31 Dec 2016.
Indigenous Actuators: Primary Actuators QT
completed, Iron Bird testing completed.
Being evaluated on LCA Mk1. Secondary
Actuators under development.
Avionics
Avionics architecture has been finalized.
New cockpit with bigger size (6”x8”)
displays has been designed.
Development of new LRUs is in progress.
Avionics will be ready by Dec 2018.
Configuration of Active Phased Array based
Unified Electronic Warfare Suite (UEWS)
finalised.
The number of elements that can be
incorporated with the existing geometry for
the Antenna Array unit of AESA Radar has
been finalised and performance parameters
like range and Effective Radiated Power
(ERP) computed.
Night Vision Goggl e (NVG) compatible L E D
lights for Navigation lights and Taxi /
Landing Lights are being developed.
Engineering models have been developed.
Performance is being evaluated.
Conformal antenna developed for V/UHF.
Under development Technologies for LCA
******************************
***********************
Development of critical advanced
technologies for indigenous equipments
and systems is in progress. Project sanctions
for development of technologies have been
given to identified work centers. The
following project s has been completed;
DALIA actuators
Indigenous development of high strength
titanium alloy Ti-10
Development of Friction Stir Waelding
Technology for Aircraft Structures
Aerodynamic studies of performance of LCA
wing with Vortex Generators
LCF data generation testing on 15-5 PH steel
Digital Communication Scheme for Tejas
On-going Projects
***********************
The following major projects have been
initiated and are in progress
Development of V/UHF Conformal Antenna
Development of Digital Audio Control System
(DACS)
Digital Liquid Oxygen (LOX) Indicators/
Transmitters
Development of improved RAM
Fatigue data generation on AA 7010
Aluminium alloy
Development of Zn-Ni plating as an alternate
to cadmium plating
Development of high temperature beta
titanium alloy DMR 700
Development of On-Board Oxygen
Generation System (OBOGS)
Development of Cabin Shut Off Valve (CBSOV)
of ECS,
Development of AMAGB Bearings
Advanced Subminiature Telemetry System,
Jet Fuel Starter (JFS) Mark 2
Development of MEMS based Pressure
Transducers and temperature sensors for
Hydraulics system.
Credits.Next Generation weapons Technology
https://www.facebook.com/Defence360/posts/1765155550443188:0

 

[WolfPack86]

TEJAS NEARS MISSILE TEST AFTER I-DERBY INTEGRATION
India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas achieved a major milestone earlier this year when LSP-7 (KH2017) equipped with Israeli origin advanced Derby Beyond Visual Range Missile

Rafael has completed the integration of its I-Derby beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile on India’s Aeronautical Development Agency Tejas light combat aircraft, with a first test firing scheduled for the end of this year.

Yossi Horowitz, director of marketing and business development at the Israeli company’s air superiority systems division, says the I-Derby will become the Tejas fighter’s main air-to-air weapon following the completion of testing. India could also later equip its single-engine aircraft with Rafael’s latest extended-range (ER) version of the missile, he adds.

According to Rafael, the I-Derby ER has a range of up to 54nm (100 km), with the weapon also carrying a new radar seeker. The missile can be deployed from a fighter’s rail launchers, or by using a “shove” pyrotechnic charge that jettisons it from a fuselage stores station before its rocket motor ignites.

Meanwhile, Rafael is also preparing to offer its Spike ER air-to-surface missile to meet an Indian requirement for helicopter-launched weapons. A previous tender failed to advance after potential bidders were unable to match New Delhi’s requested technical specifications. Rafael will offer the 4.3nm-range Spike ER in combination with a new launcher.
http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2017/07/tejas-nears-missile-test-after-i-derby.html

 

[IndianHawk]

TEJAS NEARS MISSILE TEST AFTER I-DERBY INTEGRATION
India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas achieved a major milestone earlier this year when LSP-7 (KH2017) equipped with Israeli origin advanced Derby Beyond Visual Range Missile

Rafael has completed the integration of its I-Derby beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile on India’s Aeronautical Development Agency Tejas light combat aircraft, with a first test firing scheduled for the end of this year.

Yossi Horowitz, director of marketing and business development at the Israeli company’s air superiority systems division, says the I-Derby will become the Tejas fighter’s main air-to-air weapon following the completion of testing. India could also later equip its single-engine aircraft with Rafael’s latest extended-range (ER) version of the missile, he adds.

According to Rafael, the I-Derby ER has a range of up to 54nm (100 km), with the weapon also carrying a new radar seeker. The missile can be deployed from a fighter’s rail launchers, or by using a “shove” pyrotechnic charge that jettisons it from a fuselage stores station before its rocket motor ignites.

Meanwhile, Rafael is also preparing to offer its Spike ER air-to-surface missile to meet an Indian requirement for helicopter-launched weapons. A previous tender failed to advance after potential bidders were unable to match New Delhi’s requested technical specifications. Rafael will offer the 4.3nm-range Spike ER in combination with a new launcher.
http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2017/07/tejas-nears-missile-test-after-i-derby.html

With 100 km range missile Tejas will shoot porki planes in porky territory before they could even cross border.

 

[WolfPack86]

New Kaveri engine being developed by the SNECMA-GTRE JV will be based on the M-88 core

According to the DRDO chief, the Kabini core based Kaveri will not provide enough thrust to fully expand the LCA's flight performance envelope. Hence a modified M-88 core would be used to power the new Kaveri engine.

However the new engine would retain more than 60% of its components from the current Kaveri engine, and GTRE would hold the entire design rights for the new engine.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/TejasMrca/photos/?ref=page_internal

 

[Mikesingh]

New Kaveri engine being developed by the SNECMA-GTRE JV will be based on the M-88 core

According to the DRDO chief, the Kabini core based Kaveri will not provide enough thrust to fully expand the LCA's flight performance envelope. Hence a modified M-88 core would be used to power the new Kaveri engine.

However the new engine would retain more than 60% of its components from the current Kaveri engine, and GTRE would hold the entire design rights for the new engine.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/TejasMrca/photos/?ref=page_internal

And that would take.....another 5 years? Timelines never seem to have an end!

 

[WolfPack86]

Is India on the Verge of Building a Super Jet Fighter?
In 2016 the Indian Navy rejected the domestically built Tejas jet fighter—or Light Combat Aircraft—after a troubled thirty-three years of development in which the maritime fighting branch had invested significantly. However, the Indian Navy argued that the Tejas weighed too much, and produced insufficient thrust for takeoff from the ski-jump ramp of its forthcoming aircraft carrier.

But the Indian Navy hasn’t given up entirely on the Tejas; it is considering a Mark 2 variant under development, which will be powered by the same F414 turbofan engines as the U.S. Navy’s Super Hornet fighter.


The Tejas was developed out of the Light Combat Aircraft program, which sought a replacement for the hundreds of MiG-21 fighters nearing the end of their service lives in the Indian Air Force. The single-engine Tejas has a tailless delta-wing configuration and supposedly costs only $25 million per airplane. However, it took decades for the LCA to come together, and it continued to rely heavily on foreign components, including an Israeli Doppler radar and General Electric F404 turbofan engines.

With a top speed of Mach 1.6 to 1.8, a maximum external load of 7,700 pounds and a service ceiling of fifty-two thousand feet, the Tejas remains unexceptional compared to top-performing fourth-generation light fighters such as the F-16. The Indian Air Force has only ordered 123 Tejas jets so far to equip six squadrons by 2024. HAL, however, is having difficulty ramping up production from eight aircraft a year to the desired sixteen.

On the short term, HAL seeks to improve the Tejas Mark1 by installing an Israeli EL/M-2052 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, jamming pods and an aerial refueling probe. This Tejas Mark 1A subvariant will make up the latter two-thirds of the Mark 1 production run.

But the Indian firm is also taking a second crack at an Indian Navy contract with its Tejas Mark 2, which will have greater thrust by swapping out the F404 turbofans (rated at eleven thousand pounds of thrust dry) with a General Electric F414. The F414 has larger fan blades and can produce thirteen thousand pounds of dry thrust. The Indian Aerial Development Agency has already devoted $542 million to the project, which dates all the way back to 2009.

After some mixed messages from the defense ministry, the Mark 2 took a major step closer to being realized in February 2017, when General Electric provided the first two F414-INS6 engines for Mark 2 test aircraft, with six more to follow. If the Mark 2 enters production, a total of ninety-nine engines may be delivered as part of a $600 million deal. The improved propulsion might not only make the Tejas Mark 2 more viable for carrier takeoff, but increase its maximum weapons-load capacity by 25 percent, to eleven thousand pounds.

The tender also stipulated transferring up to 60 percent of the F414 engine technology to India—with GE claiming it is ready to transfer more than 50 percent. This is also significant, as India’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment has been working for two decades on domestic Kaveri K9 and K10 turbofans, which it hopes will one day be ready for installation on the Tejas or the HAL AMCA stealth fighter currently under development. Additional foreign technology could help spur the engines’ development—indeed, after paying $2 million for consultation with a French firm, the GTRE estimates that new Kaveri engines may be ready for testing in 2019.

The Tejas Mark 2 would also come loaded with further enhancements to the avionics, most notably an Uttam AESA radar developed domestically by the Electronic Research and Development Establishment. AESA radars offers greater resolution and sensor stealth, and are considered to be the cutting of current fighter-borne radar technology. However, the Uttam currently is only geared for air-to-air operation, with an air-to-ground mode still in development.

The Tejas Mark II would incorporate the new features of the Mark 1A, as well as a new glass cockpit with an eight-by-twelve-inch multifunction display and an onboard oxygen system that collects air from the outside, removing the need for oxygen bottles. The new engine and avionics on the Mark 2 would stretch out the airframe an additional meter for a total length of 14.2 meters.

According to Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar, the Tejas Mark 2 is set to for its first flight in 2019, with production to commence in 2022, possibly following the establishment of a separate production line. The Indian Navy has expressed interest in forty-six or fifty-six carrier-based variants of the Mark 2 to enter service, while the Air Force has ordered an additional eighty-three Mark 2s to supplement its Tejas Mark 1s, though there is speculation an order as high as three hundred could follow if the Mark 2 is found to be satisfactory.

By investing in the Tejas Mark 2, the Indian Aeronautical Development Agency hopes to recoup more from the substantial time and money devoted to the Tejas fighter program in previous decades. If the new engines and radar perform as hoped, the Mark 2 may finally provide India with a decent domestic fighter jet that improves upon the Mark 1’s shortcomings.

However, India isn’t hedging its best purely on domestic designs—it is also looking to strike a deal to open a domestic production line for either the American F-16 Block 70 or the Swedish JAS 39 Gripen-E fighter, both of which are excellent, mature designs. New Delhi has several options as to how to increase its fighter force from the current strength of thirty-three squadrons to the desired forty-five, but which it will commit to remains to be seen.
http://www.defencenews.in/article.aspx?id=283659

 

[WolfPack86]

Another Milestone towards Tejas' FOC
https://twitter.com/indiandefencera?lang=en

 

[WolfPack86]

Tejas firing Derby, pic source DDR
https://twitter.com/indiandefencera?lang=en

 

[Chinmoy]

Something from horse mouth..

As Tejas inches towards final clearance, DRDO chairman explains why the fighter jet programme was delayed

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/sto...-jet-programme-was-delayed-1222844-2018-04-29

In an exclusive interview to India Today, Dr S Christopher, chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) clarified that it would be wrong to say that the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was made in a span of three decades. He explained that that it was only in 1998 that the government decided to go for full-scale production of Tejas and allocated money for it.

Dr S Christopher also held the Indian Airforce responsible for the delay in making Tejas. Changing specifications mid-way through the design and development process or changing requirements "led to delays," he said.

The DRDO chairman added that specifications regarding the engine of the Tejas couldn't be finalised for a long time because of the constantly changing requirements.

 

[WolfPack86]

Uttam #AESA with LCA #Tejas

 

[WolfPack86]

Integration testing of the UTTAM AESA Radar (of DRDO LRDE lab) with the LCA earlier this year.

Drdo will begin flight tests of the UTTAM on a fixed wing platform this year (it has already been tested on a rotary wing platform)
https://www.facebook.com/pg/TeamINDRA/photos/?ref=page_internal

 

[Steven Rogers]

Integration testing of the UTTAM AESA Radar (of DRDO LRDE lab) with the LCA earlier this year.

Drdo will begin flight tests of the UTTAM on a fixed wing platform this year (it has already been tested on a rotary wing platform)
https://www.facebook.com/pg/TeamINDRA/photos/?ref=page_internal

Croped pic from @Kakarat from brf

 

[WolfPack86]

#HAL #Tejas to get FOC this December said CMD Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd T Suvarna Raju (source @SumannSharrma )
https://twitter.com/indiandefencera?lang=en

 

[Samsung J7]

#HAL #Tejas to get FOC this December said CMD Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd T Suvarna Raju (source @SumannSharrma )
https://twitter.com/indiandefencera?lang=en

They r saying this for last 20 years
Nowadays nobody cares

 

[indus]

So will the planes be placed in Sulur TN as it was planned to be the first squadron of Tejas.

 

[avknight1408]

So will the planes be placed in Sulur TN as it was planned to be the first squadron of Tejas.

Article from last week.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...to-sulur-air-base-in-july/article24207275.ece

 

[HariPrasad-1]

#HAL #Tejas to get FOC this December said CMD Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd T Suvarna Raju (source @SumannSharrma )
https://twitter.com/indiandefencera?lang=en

Ek aur Tarikh. We are helpless. Just listen to what they say. We can not do anything to these useless people.

 

[WolfPack86]

Watch | WION Exclusive: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is on its way to make 83 more light combat aircraft called #Tejas. WION's talks to T Suvarna Raju, CMD, HAL about the offer, its design, structure and capability.