LCA TEJAS MK1 & MK1A: News and Discussion

[IndianHawk]

Not a hogwash.It is based on realistic data and attrition figures.
IAF will have to conduct a lot of CAS and interdiction missions and these missions generally have really have high attrition rates(over 7%,for reference 3% is acceptable,5% is modestly high).
If you ever get a chance then read a book launched by IAF chief ACM AY Tipnis.He had asked for 55 squadrons by 2020 during vajpayee era post Op parakram but they sat on it and nothing happened.

And Chinese have arrived.They may not have the adequate number of airbases today in tibet but in 10-15 years they will have more ALG/Forward airbases and more Mid air refuellers and not to forget 2x more combat capable aircraft than us.Our procurement programs havent gone anywhere in last 10 years and if the new MMRCA drama continues then we will suffer in medium category aircrafts.Our Only hope is Tejas mk2 MWF and Su-30MKI upgrade in short to mid term and AMCA in long term.

We had just inducted 1st su30 mki in 2002 the vajpai era. Most of our airforce was made up of mig21,23 , 27 then . And mig29

Jaguar were still being built and iaf was eyeing 126 mirages.

Point is we had no heavy fighter and barring mirage we had no multirole fighter either .( Mig29 became multirole.only after upgrade).

Now today we have 300 su30mki multirole .
36 rafale are coming ( french themselves claim each rafale is operationally equals two mirage) .
Lca is coming in 123.
Mig29 upg and mirage upg. 100+


All these jets are much longer ranged , have much more endurance and multirole capable.

So I wonder what would be assessment of tipnis today. Somehow I believe it would be vastly different what he believed previously.

 

[aerokan]

Mk1A production will begin on schedule. Write now development phase is going on with test being done on lsp Tejas. What part of it do you have difficulty with ??


You have to make provision in the budget for all upcoming years to take up such a mamooth task. Govt will have to pay for it increasing every year .
Along with 3 S5 class ssbn to be built after arihant class. There are huge committed expenditure.

What part of it do you have difficulty with ?? - The 'Atma Nirbhar' part.

After it was evident that the MMRCA deal is going to be closed, Modi went to France and made a deal with France to get the Rafale to India for 36 jets. And then a deal was signed with France within 18 months and that includes some price re-negotiations, agreements on india specific customizations, quote expiries and everything in between. Contrast that to MK1A, price was re-negotiated twice after agreements, took a long time to get it approved (not considering 2015 proposal.. only considering 2017 IAF tender) and is still yet to be signed. That's not called on schedule. That's throwing things on the wall and see what sticks. Schedules are made in advance, not after the fact.

If the govt is really honest on the 'Atma nirbhar' part and not just throwing out sound bites to appease the public opinion, it should have concluded the deal way sooner.

What could have been done if it had been 'Atma Nirbhar' bharat:

1. IAF releases the tender and since HAL is the single govt org in charge of delivering it, govt should have provided a bank guarantee on behalf of IAF to provide the order and an escrow of base cost funds readily available to start production at the earliest.
2. Govt would have forced it's bureaucracy (including govt and IAF) to release the funds that were pending to HAL from IAF and avoid making HAL deliberately financially unhealthy unable to take up projects proactively.
3. An agreement after negotiations when finalized on the price, can give them the difference in price compared to the base deal.
4. Clauses in contract indicating that as soon as the MK1A is ready for production, it will shift it's gears from MK1 to MK1A immediately even if it means in the middle of the contract with a small financial penalty in price based on the number of MK1 aircraft left to deliver. The financial penalty won't be an actual penalty since the extra costs that will be incurred in upgrading IOC/FOC MK1 to MK1A a little later won't be necessary for some jets and will be reduced in cost.
4. The inflation costs of delaying the negotiated signing will be more. So it's better sign it early even if it means it will cost a little more now. We will end up spending less and even that money will be with HAL.. another govt agency.

This is Project Management and following the Critical Chain process and some jugaad. Now please don't tell me Atma Nirbhar was not termed before this year and so my argument would be invalid
Current version of atma nirbhar bharat is to rally people because govt has no money, not because it want self reliance. If that is the case, IAF wouldn't be thinking about 'Rafale' class medium fighters and instead would have focused solely on Tejas MK2 or non-stealth AMCA at the earliest and would have given approval for a higher thrust engine already.

Regarding the SSN's, i won't say much but 100 crores after 4 years means this is UPA-4. Period!!!

 

[aerokan]

We had just inducted 1st su30 mki in 2002 the vajpai era. Most of our airforce was made up of mig21,23 , 27 then . And mig29

Jaguar were still being built and iaf was eyeing 126 mirages.

Point is we had no heavy fighter and barring mirage we had no multirole fighter either .( Mig29 became multirole.only after upgrade).

Now today we have 300 su30mki multirole .
36 rafale are coming ( french themselves claim each rafale is operationally equals two mirage) .
Lca is coming in 123.
Mig29 upg and mirage upg. 100+


All these jets are much longer ranged , have much more endurance and multirole capable.

So I wonder what would be assessment of tipnis today. Somehow I believe it would be vastly different what he believed previously.

The premise of that assessment is based on 2 front war. Neither our geography nor our neighbours have changed. We are upgrading while our enemies are too. So maybe the number of squadrons might change but it won't be too vastly different in terms of the requirements (not just squad numbers).

 

[Flying Dagger]

What part of it do you have difficulty with ?? - The 'Atma Nirbhar' part.

After it was evident that the MMRCA deal is going to be closed, Modi went to France and made a deal with France to get the Rafale to India for 36 jets. And then a deal was signed with France within 18 months and that includes some price re-negotiations, agreements on india specific customizations, quote expiries and everything in between. Contrast that to MK1A, price was re-negotiated twice after agreements, took a long time to get it approved (not considering 2015 proposal.. only considering 2017 IAF tender) and is still yet to be signed. That's not called on schedule. That's throwing things on the wall and see what sticks. Schedules are made in advance, not after the fact.

If the govt is really honest on the 'Atma nirbhar' part and not just throwing out sound bites to appease the public opinion, it should have concluded the deal way sooner.

What could have been done if it had been 'Atma Nirbhar' bharat:

1. IAF releases the tender and since HAL is the single govt org in charge of delivering it, govt should have provided a bank guarantee on behalf of IAF to provide the order and an escrow of base cost funds readily available to start production at the earliest.
2. Govt would have forced it's bureaucracy (including govt and IAF) to release the funds that were pending to HAL from IAF and avoid making HAL deliberately financially unhealthy unable to take up projects proactively.
3. An agreement after negotiations when finalized on the price, can give them the difference in price compared to the base deal.
4. Clauses in contract indicating that as soon as the MK1A is ready for production, it will shift it's gears from MK1 to MK1A immediately even if it means in the middle of the contract with a small financial penalty in price based on the number of MK1 aircraft left to deliver. The financial penalty won't be an actual penalty since the extra costs that will be incurred in upgrading IOC/FOC MK1 to MK1A a little later won't be necessary for some jets and will be reduced in cost.
4. The inflation costs of delaying the negotiated signing will be more. So it's better sign it early even if it means it will cost a little more now. We will end up spending less and even that money will be with HAL.. another govt agency.

This is Project Management and following the Critical Chain process and some jugaad. Now please don't tell me Atma Nirbhar was not termed before this year and so my argument would be invalid
Current version of atma nirbhar bharat is to rally people because govt has no money, not because it want self reliance. If that is the case, IAF wouldn't be thinking about 'Rafale' class medium fighters and instead would have focused solely on Tejas MK2 or non-stealth AMCA at the earliest and would have given approval for a higher thrust engine already.

Regarding the SSN's, i won't say much but 100 crores after 4 years means this is UPA-4. Period!!!

Hold the high horses..

Rafale was chosen because there is nothing in our arsenal to match it... And we need this tech advantage against PAF .

The order for 36 + (18 can be bought at same price) Rafale was signed to make sure we aren't stuck in price negotiation forever and get some help from france in our other indigenous projects.

Gov has already forced 300+ Tejas and several projects.

Giving approval for higher thrust engine.. ?
I don't know what you took but engine tech isn't joke that they'll throw money and it will appear in a year or 2 .

Damn I don't even wish to respond on such dubious posts . Go and watch druv tatti and akash banshee

 

[Flying Dagger]

We had just inducted 1st su30 mki in 2002 the vajpai era. Most of our airforce was made up of mig21,23 , 27 then . And mig29

Jaguar were still being built and iaf was eyeing 126 mirages.

Point is we had no heavy fighter and barring mirage we had no multirole fighter either .( Mig29 became multirole.only after upgrade).

Now today we have 300 su30mki multirole .
36 rafale are coming ( french themselves claim each rafale is operationally equals two mirage) .
Lca is coming in 123.
Mig29 upg and mirage upg. 100+


All these jets are much longer ranged , have much more endurance and multirole capable.

So I wonder what would be assessment of tipnis today. Somehow I believe it would be vastly different what he believed previously.

It's still the same as the enemy have grown manifold in power too. The number of required squadrons is much higher than we are planning to achieve. If mk1a and mk2 turns up good things will workout.

Remember the big birds spend more time on ground than air. Mirage and mig29 are our only quality 4th gen for interceptor role

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

This is uninformed view. This govt has ordered 6SSN worth 1lakh crore. Dhanush is already entering service. Atags is in limited series production to iron out kinks. Mk1a contract has been cleared by CCS and development work is continuing with great speed.

Htt 40 is being ordered instead of pilatus. Mpatgm has been given priority over Israeli import.

More akash squadrons have been ordered and qrsam is FasTracked.

This 65 SQ thing is hogwash . That 42 sq thing was formulated in 1960s when jets were not multirole and had much less range and endurance.

SSN order 0. Budget allocated 100 crore. Tbh Ssn project needs more R&D. But just don't pull out huge numbers which has not even been allocated.
Atags order 0.
Dhanush 114.
mk1A discussion since 2016. Orders placed 0.
Htt40- orders placed 0.
Motagm order placed 0.
FICV- after more than a decade still 0. This project can actually propel Indian infantry projecrs and tech to next stage.
LCH- Grand 0 that HAL has actually started to manufacture without orders cos they are keeping employees idle. Wow.
Now all these projects are Indian projects. I am not even talking of imported or foreign collaboration ones like anti mine ships or LHD's.

To give you an example of something, someone in Indo China border thread posted the 'unofficial' number of aircrafts in Chinese inventory. They simply have 550+ different versions of Su27 and 30/35. 530 of J10. 30 J20. And some 800 of J7, j7ha, su7 etc. Even if we can say 2nd and 3rd gen ac cannot play an role in Tibet region, how are IAF supposed to fight with 1000+ 4th gen Chinese ac. Pakis have approximately 180 4th gen. Even if Chinese divert 1/4th of their available 4th gen assets to Indian border that's around like 250-300 ac. There is only a level to which skill can play. We even dont have much AEW assets for God sake with govt sitting on tanker /aew deals as well.

You are keep saying 100+ or 200+ will come. The question is when?

 

[aerokan]

Hold the high horses..

Rafale was chosen because there is nothing in our arsenal to match it... And we need this tech advantage against PAF .

The order for 36 + (18 can be bought at same price) Rafale was signed to make sure we aren't stuck in price negotiation forever and get some help from france in our other indigenous projects.

Gov has already forced 300+ Tejas and several projects.

Giving approval for higher thrust engine.. ?
I don't know what you took but engine tech isn't joke that they'll throw money and it will appear in a year or 2 .

Damn I don't even wish to respond on such dubious posts . Go and watch druv tatti and akash banshee

I guess lot of people have comprehension problems. Buying Rafale off the shelf for immediate consumption was needed to reduce the shortfalls in numbers. 100% agreed. I was only referring to the step-motherly treatment to the indigenous projects. Heck.. step-mothers would treat better than our govts.


Having said that, let me fix some 'dubious' things in your post.

'tech advantage against PAF' ? seriously? If we are still looking at PAF and not PLAAF, then that's the first and foremost strategic blunder. If we are equal to PAF and looking for advantage against PAF, with all the existing assets in our inventory, then IAF assertion that we can fight a two front war is so wrong. Which one is it correct today?

"stuck in price negotiation forever"

so you are saying that since we couldn't negotiate the price reduction to our desired price point for bigger numbers, we went ahead and purchased at a higher unit price (excluding support systems) and we purchased support systems to plan further purchases anyways at higher prices? see how illogical that sounds? Then why not go with the price they asked and sign the 126 deal instead of getting it in piecemeal orders if you are going to purchase anyways.

Also get rid of any illusions that France is going to help us in technical front. If that was the case, we would have achieved many things already.

Also if Modi can simply go and force the Rafale purchase decision.. why can't he force the speeding up of negotiations or mandatory conclusion of negotiations within the specified time frame for MK1A or other indigenous projects?

Gov has already forced 300+ Tejas and several projects.

Giving approval for higher thrust engine.. ?
I don't know what you took but engine tech isn't joke that they'll throw money and it will appear in a year or 2 .

Forced? Without giving money and signing nothing?
Giving defense ministry to Jaitley and pulling back our only good defense minister Parrikar even when he was alive just to have advantage in Goa politics?

Infact govt was forced and IAF was forced to go desi fighter due to the lack of money.. not due to the lack of love of foreign maal.

Regarding the engine.. did you even follow the recent request for approval for a higher thrust engine? Govt shot it down as usual saying to finish smaller projects first and then we can look at it. Tell it to the govt that engine development takes a long time and refer them the 'tatti' channels that you were referring to.

Below is the link in case you missed this development.


http://idrw.org/drdo-ready-to-work-on-the-successor-to-kaveri-engine-govt-wants-basic-tech-ready/

"The proposed engine could be a clean slate design and will not borrow core and other technology from the now-closed Kaveri engine program but MOD wanted DRDO to prove that it can design and complete smaller projects first and in the process also develop next-generation technology for the engine"

 

[IndianHawk]

What part of it do you have difficulty with ?? - The 'Atma Nirbhar' part.

After it was evident that the MMRCA deal is going to be closed, Modi went to France and made a deal with France to get the Rafale to India for 36 jets. And then a deal was signed with France within 18 months and that includes some price re-negotiations, agreements on india specific customizations, quote expiries and everything in between. Contrast that to MK1A, price was re-negotiated twice after agreements, took a long time to get it approved (not considering 2015 proposal.. only considering 2017 IAF tender) and is still yet to be signed. That's not called on schedule. That's throwing things on the wall and see what sticks. Schedules are made in advance, not after the fact.

If the govt is really honest on the 'Atma nirbhar' part and not just throwing out sound bites to appease the public opinion, it should have concluded the deal way sooner.

What could have been done if it had been 'Atma Nirbhar' bharat:

1. IAF releases the tender and since HAL is the single govt org in charge of delivering it, govt should have provided a bank guarantee on behalf of IAF to provide the order and an escrow of base cost funds readily available to start production at the earliest.
2. Govt would have forced it's bureaucracy (including govt and IAF) to release the funds that were pending to HAL from IAF and avoid making HAL deliberately financially unhealthy unable to take up projects proactively.
3. An agreement after negotiations when finalized on the price, can give them the difference in price compared to the base deal.
4. Clauses in contract indicating that as soon as the MK1A is ready for production, it will shift it's gears from MK1 to MK1A immediately even if it means in the middle of the contract with a small financial penalty in price based on the number of MK1 aircraft left to deliver. The financial penalty won't be an actual penalty since the extra costs that will be incurred in upgrading IOC/FOC MK1 to MK1A a little later won't be necessary for some jets and will be reduced in cost.
4. The inflation costs of delaying the negotiated signing will be more. So it's better sign it early even if it means it will cost a little more now. We will end up spending less and even that money will be with HAL.. another govt agency.

This is Project Management and following the Critical Chain process and some jugaad. Now please don't tell me Atma Nirbhar was not termed before this year and so my argument would be invalid
Current version of atma nirbhar bharat is to rally people because govt has no money, not because it want self reliance. If that is the case, IAF wouldn't be thinking about 'Rafale' class medium fighters and instead would have focused solely on Tejas MK2 or non-stealth AMCA at the earliest and would have given approval for a higher thrust engine already.

Regarding the SSN's, i won't say much but 100 crores after 4 years means this is UPA-4. Period!!!

You clearly have no idea how things work in actual real world. Fine with me.

This is getting off topic. Open a new thread or something to discuss Atma nirbharta.

No project is more important than ssbn and ssn for Atma nirbharta btw.

 

[IndianHawk]

It's still the same as the enemy have grown manifold in power too. The number of required squadrons is much higher than we are planning to achieve. If mk1a and mk2 turns up good things will workout.

Remember the big birds spend more time on ground than air. Mirage and mig29 are our only quality 4th gen for interceptor role

I'm aware of that . I myself have argued for 1000+ jets airforce multiple times on this forum .

All those data of chini jets number was posted by me here.

But it doesn't matter untill iaf comes up with it's numbers requirements for next 3-4 decades based on capabilities requirements.
It's not just jets you need more bases more pilots more support aircraft including transporters awacs and tankers. You need more air defense more missile.

Have iaf put out any assessment of how s400 would change cap missions ? Or how many jets can actually be put together in a sector before they start colliding with each other.

Modern air combat requires large area. Planes now have far more endurance. A su30 can remain in air upwards of 4 hour easily. Lca can remain there 2.5 hours ( mig21 would require 2-3 sorties for that).

The point is let iaf define it and not through retired officers. Let them come with official assessment of requirements for next 3-4 decades and present a plan how to get there.

 

[IndianHawk]

To give you an example of something, someone in Indo China border thread posted the 'unofficial' number of aircrafts in Chinese inventory. They simply have 550+ different versions of Su27 and 30/35. 530 of J10. 30 J20. And some 800 of J7, j7ha, su7 etc. Even if we can say 2nd and 3rd gen ac cannot play an role in Tibet region, how are IAF supposed to fight with 1000+ 4th gen Chinese ac. Pakis have approximately 180 4th gen. Even if Chinese divert 1/4th of their available 4th gen assets to Indian border that's around like 250-300 ac. There is only a level to which skill can play. We even dont have much AEW assets for God sake with govt sitting on tanker /aew deals as well.

I have done that assessment on other threads previously. Problem is that people like you don't read anything and just come barging with half ass info?

Okay answer me how many of those jets can be put for operation in tibet?

What is there availability rate compared to Indian jets?

How many jets China's other enemy have which china also has to account for ?

Answer these first before throwing number in the air.

 

[WolfPack86]

BRD to convert IOC into FOC aircraft for Tejas Mk1 fleet
Air Chief Marshal RK Bhadauria wants Base Repair Depot (BRD) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to carry out conversion of the first 16 IOC (Initial Operational Clearance ) configuration aircraft from the first Squadrons to the FOC (Final Operational Clearance ) configuration as seen in the second squadron so has to maintain combat effectiveness of both the Tejas Mk1 Squadrons without relying on State-owned HAL ‘s LCA- Division team which it has relied on all these years for regular maintenance works of the first squadron. Bhadauria wants BRD and Squadron level technicians to take over full maintenance activities of the LCA-Tejas Mk1 fleet henceforth and rely on HAL only for major maintenance activities like when they are due to for ” Major Overhauls ” as prescribed by the manufacture like IAF does for all other fighter jets in its fleet. FOC (Final Operational Clearance ) configuration will enable Beyond Visual Range capabilities on the first 16 aircraft and also clear other Air to Ground weapons which were not available with IOC configuration. Software upgrades to the Mission computer of the IOC aircraft will also expand its flight envelope clearance and usage of additional drop tank other fuel-related modifications and upgrades as told to idrw.org. A major addition in the FOC configuration Tejas Mk1 aircraft has been the removable Mid-Air refueling probe which will not feature in the IOC Tejas Mk1 even after FOC conversion since it could require remapped fuel plumping and many changes to the internally hardware of the aircraft which IAF has decided to avoid at this stage and might be done at a later stage by HAL in separate contract work order . All 83 Tejas Mk1A will feature a removable Mid-Air refueling probe from the first aircraft onwards.

BRD to convert IOC into FOC aircraft for Tejas Mk1 fleet – Indian Defence Research Wing

idrw.org

 

[Bleh]

BRD to convert IOC into FOC aircraft for Tejas Mk1 fleet
Air Chief Marshal RK Bhadauria wants Base Repair Depot (BRD) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to carry out conversion of the first 16 IOC (Initial Operational Clearance ) configuration aircraft from the first Squadrons to the FOC (Final Operational Clearance ) configuration as seen in the second squadron so has to maintain combat effectiveness of both the Tejas Mk1 Squadrons without relying on State-owned HAL ‘s LCA- Division team which it has relied on all these years for regular maintenance works of the first squadron. Bhadauria wants BRD and Squadron level technicians to take over full maintenance activities of the LCA-Tejas Mk1 fleet henceforth and rely on HAL only for major maintenance activities like when they are due to for ” Major Overhauls ” as prescribed by the manufacture like IAF does for all other fighter jets in its fleet. FOC (Final Operational Clearance ) configuration will enable Beyond Visual Range capabilities on the first 16 aircraft and also clear other Air to Ground weapons which were not available with IOC configuration. Software upgrades to the Mission computer of the IOC aircraft will also expand its flight envelope clearance and usage of additional drop tank other fuel-related modifications and upgrades as told to idrw.org. A major addition in the FOC configuration Tejas Mk1 aircraft has been the removable Mid-Air refueling probe which will not feature in the IOC Tejas Mk1 even after FOC conversion since it could require remapped fuel plumping and many changes to the internally hardware of the aircraft which IAF has decided to avoid at this stage and might be done at a later stage by HAL in separate contract work order . All 83 Tejas Mk1A will feature a removable Mid-Air refueling probe from the first aircraft onwards.

BRD to convert IOC into FOC aircraft for Tejas Mk1 fleet – Indian Defence Research Wing

idrw.org

Finally!..

Anybody remember these?

Nobody knows if they will incorporate any of these like bulged spine & wing-tip CCM pylon in Mark1a, but in case they do... Farnart time!!!

 

[Gautam Sarkar]

Basically means that the "Flying daggers" are likely to get sharpened edges soon with a software upgrade & an upgraded weapons package as well.@writetake Sir, could you check if the 16 prototype LCA can be reconverted into Mk1 IOC/FOC standards ?
Would add another sqdn quickly

 

[IndianHawk]

Repeating old info about ferry range by indranil.


They landed with 800 kg of fuel left. Flying at around FL 280-290 (28000-29000 feet). Higher cruising altitude will lead to higher endurance and range. Current flight ceilings during ferry flights are regulated by DGCA. So, brochure ferry range and endurance without refueling should be around 2800 kms and over 3.5 hours.

Unfortunately, the DTs are not optimized. Addition of the 3rd tank increases range by a little over 100 knots. The 1200 ltr DTs will be changed to 1360 ltr DTs which dont have much higher drag and have better weapon separation characteristics. The centerline tank is going to get bigger with an oval cross section.

 

[IndianHawk]

This is possible config with 2 ccm and 4 bvr for mk1a.
As someone was comparing with a mirage photo.

In mirage pic it was a centre line drop tank instead of lgb.

Mirage has total 8 hard point + ldp ( 2 each wing and 4 in middle section around centre)

Lca has 7+ldp ( 3 each wing + just 1 centre line.) .

So lca just lacks 1 hardpoint compared to mirage. But mirage can lift 2 ton more payload.

 

[IndianHawk]

This is possible config with 2 ccm and 4 bvr for mk1a.
As someone was comparing with a mirage photo.

View attachment 48921

In mirage pic it was a centre line drop tank instead of lgb.

Mirage has total 8 hard point + ldp ( 2 each wing and 4 in middle section around centre)

Lca has 7+ldp ( 3 each wing + just 1 centre line.) .

So lca just lacks 1 hardpoint compared to mirage. But mirage can lift 2 ton more payload.

Note spj is port is compensate by dual ccm on other side. Mirage has internal jammer.

But again mk1a has aesa which is far ahead of mirage radar.

Also mk1a with derby ER and Astra will be far more capable then mirage with just medium range mica.

Best part. Lca mk1a at 43 million usd costs less then mirage upgrade (at 50 million each) !! With all these advantages over mirage.

 

[Suryavanshi]

What kind of mission warrant a fuel tank for fighter jet.
Also what is the range of Tejas without any external fuel tank?

 

[IndianHawk]

What kind of mission warrant a fuel tank for fighter jet.
Also what is the range of Tejas without any external fuel tank?

All kinds of mission. Combat air patrol , strike formation . Perhaps in intercepter role drop tanks are not necessary .

Thing is if you are merging for a dog fight ( I.e. bvr didn't work) then you could drop the drop tank.

Idk what is lca range purely on internal fuel. But I have heard endurance of approx an hour which should translate too 400-500km of combat
I'm not sure on it though.

Cause as per indranil it flies 3.5 hour and cover 2800km with 800kg left with drop tanks so
1 hour endurance should mean 1000km flying at high altitude cruise speed.
So for combat it should be 40% ==400km+.

 

[Karthi]

Basically means that the "Flying daggers" are likely to get sharpened edges soon with a software upgrade & an upgraded weapons package as well.@writetake Sir, could you check if the 16 prototype LCA can be reconverted into Mk1 IOC/FOC standards ?
Would add another sqdn quickly

We should have inducted Tejas in 2005-2010 , we can upgrade it whenever new tech available . All Mig 21s would been replaced by now , if we started inducting in 2010. IAF Babus are always shifted the goal posts to derail Tejas .

 

[HariPrasad-1]

Finally!..

Anybody remember these?
View attachment 48904
Nobody knows if they will incorporate any of these like bulged spine & wing-tip CCM pylon in Mark1a, but in case they do... Farnart time!!!
View attachment 48913

Aerodynamically, wing tip sraam was found to less draggy. So finally, it shoul be on wing tip.