LCA TEJAS MK1 & MK1A: News and Discussion

[Raju Seth]

Govt has reservations in jobs which should ideally be limited to studies and higher education only for economically weaker people. Merit is sidelined here and we get poorly skilled workforce as a result. There is no political party that can touch reservation. So being pragmatic one has to work with what one has.

true,reservation has been misused,& everyone knows this,it is just matter of time when it will start affecting us

 

[Raju Seth]

https://indusdictum.com/2019/12/03/...-tejas-tejas-mk2-in-the-pipeline-mos-defence/

Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said that the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is the program and management agency for design & development of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) – Tejas.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is the design partner and production agency and manufacturing facilities have been established by HAL. HAL (Hyderabad) is an Avionics Division and avionics related to HAL manufactured platforms including LCA are manufactured at this facility.

LCA – Tejas Mk1 aircraft had attained Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) on 20 December 2013, on completion of required performance trials and all 16 fighter aircraft against IOC order have been manufactured by HAL.

Subsequently, Final Operational Clearance (FOC) was attained by ADA on 20 February 2019, and production activities of FOC configuration have commenced at HAL.

Indian Air Force LCA Squadron ‘Flying Daggers’ is operational since 1 July 2016, with the induction of IOC aircraft.

The preliminary design of Tejas Mk-II aircraft has been finalised, but it is in the initial development stage. Induction & production can commence only after successful development and test flight.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik in a written reply to Banda Prakash in Rajya Sabha yesterday.

 

[Bhurki]

Whats the breakup amingst IOC/FOC ordered?
How.many ordered?

 

[Raju Seth]

Whats the breakup amingst IOC/FOC ordered?
How.many ordered?

40 tejas ordered earlier
{
16 IOC delivered- with no 45 squad
16FOC yet to be delivered,first one in march 2020 will be with no 18 sqad
8 trainers - no idea but are said to be after FOC along with mk1A
}

Additional
83mk1A yet to be flown-deal will be signed before march 2020 b/w hal & IAF

 

[WolfPack86]

Tejas mk1a with derby is 100 km can easily shoot down any Pakistan fighter jets that entering into Indian air space.

 

[sorcerer]

Metal-cutting for single-engine Tejas fighter planes to begin in February
Metal cutting, the first step in the start of commercial production, of the of indigenously made single-engine fighter plane Tejas (Mk-II) is scheduled for February 2020, according to Dr Girsh S Deodhare, director of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and head of the Tejas programme.

'https://www.hindustantimes.com/indi...egin-in-feb/story-wyYM6Iwz0HsC1XHkDUlX3K.html

 

[rone]

what is the instantaneous turn rate of mk1 also sustained turn rate

 

[Prashant12]

Rs 26,000 crore order for Tejas Mark 1A imminent, will open door for Mark 2 to fly by 2023

After months of negotiations, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) have fixed the price of the Tejas Mark 1A light combat aircraft (LCA) at about Rs 310 crore per fighter, say ministry of defence (MoD) sources involved in the negotiations.

Now HAL is awaiting a formal contract, worth some Rs 26,000 crore for building 83 Tejas Mark 1A fighters that the MoD has already green-lighted for purchase. According to the agreed schedule, delivery of the Mark 1A will begin 36 months after the contract date. If the order is placed at the start of 2020, Tejas Mark IA deliveries will start in 2023.

With 16 fighters to be delivered each year it would take another five years to deliver all 83 fighters – that is by 2028.

“We should be signing the contract very soon”, IAF boss, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, had said on October 4. That is now imminent.

Girish Deodhare, chief of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) – the Defence R&D Organisation agency responsible for the Tejas programme – spoke exclusively to Business Standard about the Tejas Mark 1A fighter. He described it as a bridge between the current Tejas Mark 1 and the Mark 2 fighter that ADA is developing. He says the latter will be, from the standpoint of size, sophistication and capability, far superior to the Mark 1 fighter.

While the Mark 1A light fighter will have the same fuselage and General Electric (GE) F-404 engine as the Mark 1, the Mark 2 will be a significantly larger medium fighter with the more powerful GE F-414 engine.

“Initially the Tejas Mark 2 was planned to be just a re-engined Mark 1 (with a more powerful engine). However, with the advent of the Mark 1A, it was decided that Tejas Mark 2 would be configured with significantly higher capabilities. While the ‘all up weight’ (maximum take-off weight, with fuel and weapons) of Tejas Mark 1 is 13.5 tonnes, the Mark 2 will be 17.5 tonnes, taking it into the medium weight category. It will also carry an 85 per cent higher weapons load,” said Deodhare.

While ADA is developing the Mark 2 fighter, HAL is building the Mark 1A, with ADA contributing its expertise in avionics, flight controls, aerodynamics and structural analysis.

While the Tejas Mark 2 will be almost a generation ahead of the Mark 1 fighter, even the interim Tejas Mark 1A will be far more capable. The IAF has demanded five new capabilities in the Mark 1A, including “active electronic scanned array” (AESA) radar, with multi-tasking capability that would give it a clear combat edge over Pakistan’s entire fighter fleet, and most of China’s as well.

“The initial batches of the Tejas Mark 1A may field an imported AESA radar, but the DRDO is developing its indigenous Uttam AESA radar. As soon as it is proven, the Uttam will start equipping the Tejas Mark 1A,” said Deodhare.

The Uttam AESA radar is already flying on a Tejas prototype and has completed 11 successful test flights. “We need to do a couple of more years of flight testing before it is certified and ready for production. Thereafter, all Tejas Mark 1A will incorporate the indigenous radar”, he said.

This incremental approach is also evident in the “digital flight control computer” (DFCC) – a fighter aircraft’s brain – that ADA has designed and qualified for the Tejas Mark 2. The upgraded DFCC is ready and qualified, but it could not go into the Mark 1A because it was built bigger to allow easier maintenance access in the larger Mark 2 fighter.

“So we took the upgraded cards from the Tejas Mark 2’s DFCC and installed them into the smaller Mark 1 DFCC chassis, effectively upgrading it for the Mark IA. The new Mark 1A DFCC will have significantly higher processing power, which allows us to add many more advanced capabilities in the flight control system,” said Deodhare.

In addition, the Tejas Mark IA is being upgraded with a “self-protection jammer” (SPJ), supplied by Elta, which the IAF has demanded in order to confuse incoming missiles. Each Mark 1A fighter will carry a SPJ on a pod under its wing, sharing a mounting station with an air-to-air missile.

Giving the Tejas Mark 2 the contemporary look of the Rafale and Eurofighter, it will be built with canards on the front of the fuselage. These fin-like structures serve to make the aircraft unstable, and therefore more manoeuvrable. Deodhare says ADA decided to fit canards after discovering that increasing the Mark 2’s internal fuel capacity to 3300 kilogrammes (from 2400 kg in the Mark1) made the fighter excessively stable. Designing canards near the nose of the aircraft regained its manoeuvrability.

“We are targeting the first flight of the Tejas Mark 2 by 2023. We are confident of this since most of the technologies that will go into it are already matured through LCA Mark 1,” said Deodhare.

 

[Bhurki]

With 16 fighters to be delivered each year it would take another five years to deliver all 83 fighters – that is by 2028.

Is author suggesting this by himselves or does it have some credilibility?
Are there chances of increased production rate?

 

[Bleh]

Is author suggesting this by himselves or does it have some credilibility?
Are there chances of increased production rate?

Original plan in 2018 was to expand the Tejas production line to 24 per year.
In February 2019, it was again said that production capacity is to expand to atleast 24/year by modifying the idled Hawk-i and Su-30 lines.

“We are expanding our capacity to 16 Tejas per year. By the time the Tejas Mark 1A goes into production, our capacity will increase to 24 at least. That is how we intend to deliver the entire order for 83 Mark 1A in three-four years,” explained HAL’s design director, Arup Chatterjee.

 

[kunal1123]

Now HAL is awaiting a formal contract, worth some Rs 26,000 crore for building 83 Tejas Mark 1A fighters that the MoD has already green-lighted for purchase. According to the agreed schedule, delivery of the Mark 1A will begin 36 months after the contract date. If the order is placed at the start of 2020, Tejas Mark IA deliveries will start in 2023.

26000 for 83 will make 44.2 million usd per plane
not bad....

 

[Bhurki]

26000 for 83 will make 44.2 million usd per plane
not bad....

I've learnt not to be enthusiastic until the final contract signing happens..

 

[Deathstar]

26000 for 83 will make 44.2 million usd per plane
not bad....

Still quite high JF17s are cheap at 35 million

 

[Bleh]

Still quite high JF17s are cheap at 35 million

Not much cheaper, but almost a generation behind technologically compared to Mark 1A version of Tejas.

 

[abhay rajput]

I thought Tejas mark 1 will be ready by 2021..

 

[Bleh]

I thought Tejas mark 1 will be ready by 2021..

But delivery usually starts atleast 2-3 years after deal is signed... HAL don't have money to start mass production on their own even before the formal order is placed.
Already IAF owes them ₹20k crores, more than their ₹19.4 crores "record turnover" last fiscal-year.

And the deal still hasn't been signed yet. So everyday they're delaying, the delivery of Mark1A is getting pushed back.

 

[HariPrasad-1]

Still quite high JF17s are cheap at 35 million

Do not compare this BS with Tejas. It is miles ahead.

 

[HariPrasad-1]

Not much cheaper, but almost a generation behind technologically compared to Mark 1A version of Tejas.

In some areas it is a generation behind and in some others, it is more than a generation behind. It has a poor take off, poor maneuverability, poor RCS and so many other poors. I do not know about its EW. If at all they are there. they will be among the poorest in the world.

 

[Aniruddha Mulay]

Do not compare this BS with Tejas. It is miles ahead.

Tejas Mk1A is light years ahead of the jf-17 when it comes to tech.

 

[Suryavanshi]

Do not compare this BS with Tejas. It is miles ahead.

Pakis are making a rapid stride in evolving its platform but ours are stuck with tetsing and delays.
If the rate continues they may end up having a more established aircraft inventory.