LCA TEJAS MK1 & MK1A: News and Discussion

[LakshmanPST7]

Do we have any plans to develop su like heavy fighter. Why ADA, HAL obsessed with medium aircraft other than cost. Why there is no project about heavy combat aircraft

As of now, No. We do not have any Heavy jet project currently...
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There is no obsession on HAL/ADA's part for Medium Weight jets... We inducted 250+ Heavy jets in the last two decades...
We were short of Medium Weight Class jets... So, HAL/ADA worked on them as required by IAF...

Replacement for Su30s will be required from 2045 onwards...
Once Tejas Mk2 is cleared for production in 2027, the team at ADA will be free and can start working on a new project for replacing Su30s... They'll have 20 years lead time to conceptualize, design, build and test the new jet, which can be a full-fledged 6th Gen Fighter system...
Whether it will be Heavy class or not, only time will tell...

 

[Chandragupt Maurya]

Can anyone post the picture comparing size of tejas with mirage 2000 or F16

 

[Aniruddha Mulay]

Do we have any plans to develop su like heavy fighter. Why ADA, HAL obsessed with medium aircraft other than cost. Why there is no project about heavy combat aircraft

ADA and HAL are not at all obsessed with medium weight category aircraft.
In the past 20 years, IAF inducted 272 Su30 MKI which represent about 15 squadrons of the IAF, making it a top heavy air force.
Now, the obvious downsides to such a force is that those heavy fighters are maintenance intensive and cost a shit ton of money when its airborne and also has a big RCS.
Rather, if you look at the USAF and the PLAAF, their Hi-Lo mix consists of the heavy weight fighter in limited quantities coupled with a light-to-medium weight fighter aircraft in much more numerous quantities.
Given the budget constraints, its better to invest in light and medium weight fighter aircraft which cost less to fly per hour and can be acquired in far greater nos.
The Tejas Mk2 is the perfect recipe to balance out a top heavy IAF.
Also, over the coming decade, IAF will be retiring its fleet of Mirage 2000, Mig 29 UPG and Jaguar, almost 200 fighters, which will need a suitable medium weight category aircraft.
Moreover, the Su30 MKI isn't really that old and its upgrade program will only increase its longevity, I expect the Su30 MKIs to begin retiring only by the 2nd half of 2040s, so it gives ADA enough time to design and develop a heavy category fighter aircraft and for HAL to build it.

 

[THESIS THORON]

Do we have any plans to develop su like heavy fighter. Why ADA, HAL obsessed with medium aircraft other than cost. Why there is no project about heavy combat aircraft

let them dev engine for medium and light category aircrafts, then we will think abt heavy fighters.

 

[Whitecollar]

meteor 's nez of over 100km is exaggeration, btw any sources?

Meteors can be evaded even at 50km distance. It's the speed which makes Meteor so deadly cause of endgame booster. If you're using terrain masking, almost all BVRs fail at that point till you poke your head out of the terrain and go for a recommit.
Infact this was the reason I had a long debate with someone about including more number of BVRs for avg IAF fighter loadout plus atleast 2 CCMs. That's because the PoK region is mountaneous...anything you fire at PAF in a war, they'll quickly decend and try to hug the mountains for breaking our/missile's radar lock. So again we need to either push them by constant BVR firing or get behind them for the kill.
Meteors shine where our BVRs fail(at taking out ememy AWACS). If Rafale fires it using IRST, know that the Erieye's endgame has come.

 

[Whitecollar]

Can anyone post the picture comparing size of tejas with mirage 2000 or F16

M2K vs Su 30

Perspective size from bottom view

Our Little Master

Size comparison with training planes

Chote pack me bada dhamaka!

 

[Chandragupt Maurya]

View attachment 134301
M2K vs Su 30

View attachment 134303
Perspective size from bottom view

View attachment 134304
Our Little Master

View attachment 134305
Size comparison with training planes

Chote pack me bada dhamaka!

yak 130 is smaller than lca tejas

 

[MonaLazy]

Replacement for Su30s will be required from 2045 onwards...

expect the Su30 MKIs to begin retiring only by the 2nd half of 2040s, so it gives ADA enough time to design and develop a heavy category fighter aircraft and for HAL to build it.

AMCA will replace Su-30s. As stated by Guru Kota in HT Ep-3.

LCA TEJAS MK1 & MK1A: News and Discussion

IAF dropping Tejas MK2 Must be the phoren lobby at work, sensing the high stakes $30B MRFA game slipping away. Most recently confirmed by Dr Kota himself in Hamara Tejas ep. 3: Take-aways: LCA Mk2 is ready- should come out after final review (which means, as planned, 2022 rollout and...

defenceforumindia.com

 

[Chandragupt Maurya]

I have read that Future aircrafts will store drones which they can release either to attack the enemy aircraft or to neutralize the incoming missiles i was thinking if tejas had foldable wings it can be stored in a fixed wing aircraft or an helicopter
Such a small fighter aircraft like Tejas (with foldable wings) can be stored in significant numbers on even a small aircraft carrier of 45,000-50,000 tonne displacement

 

[Whitecollar]

yak 130 is smaller than lca tejas

Yes it is but there's no compsrison between the two. With hardly 50kN afterburning thrust, max speed of Mach 1, poor payload carrying cap and no BVR support, no wonder NATO named it "Mitten"...cute Mitten!!

 

[Chandragupt Maurya]

Yes it is but there's no compsrison between the two. With hardly 50kN afterburning thrust, max speed of Mach 1, poor payload carrying cap and no BVR support, no wonder NATO named it "Mitten"...cute Mitten!!

Naval variant of this aircraft (with foldable wings) wil be easy to store even a small aircraft carrier would store atleast 45-50 such aircrafts

 

[Whitecollar]

Naval variant of this aircraft (with foldable wings) wil be easy to store even a small aircraft carrier would store atleast 45-50 such aircrafts

With a T/W of 0.70, I doubt any Navy in the whole world will even "think" of adopting it for their Naval carriers bro. If it had even 50kN twin engine and a 0.85-1 T/W, it would be worth consideration...but then again Naval fighters need to stay airborne for longer durations as their A2S standoff weapons generally require them to ferry a long range, gain altitude, deploy the missile and then come back in 1 piece which is never the case infront of a modern Navy.

 

[SARTHAK]

Meteors can be evaded even at 50km distance. It's the speed which makes Meteor so deadly cause of endgame booster. If you're using terrain masking, almost all BVRs fail at that point till you poke your head out of the terrain and go for a recommit.
Infact this was the reason I had a long debate with someone about including more number of BVRs for avg IAF fighter loadout plus atleast 2 CCMs. That's because the PoK region is mountaneous...anything you fire at PAF in a war, they'll quickly decend and try to hug the mountains for breaking our/missile's radar lock. So again we need to either push them by constant BVR firing or get behind them for the kill.
Meteors shine where our BVRs fail(at taking out ememy AWACS). If Rafale fires it using IRST, know that the Erieye's endgame has come.

rafale is known for its terrain masking abilities french forces are probably expert in this, The radar explicitly mentions a terrain following mode and that too autonomous ,for low flyers mica ir will be the key and one more thing is rafale's ability to fire mica ir backwards(at six) without turning back ,this ability was showcased at distance of 18km distance ,meteor has 2 way datalink through which any rafale can redirect it towards the target,not that easy to evade

 

[SARTHAK]

To execute successful attack missions, the Rafale with its superb manoeuvrability and high degree of cockpit automation, is designed to make use of terrain following and masking, particularly at night and in adverse weather conditions, to fly a terrain/ obstacle-avoidance profile at 5.5g down at 100 feet in altitude, using to the Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS) that can operate in either digital terrain–following or radar terrain following mode. With digital terrain–following, the AFCS manoeuvres the Rafale over terrain based on a three dimensional map database which is preprogrammed into the AFCS software. The radar terrain following mode of the RBE-2 AESA radar can scan the terrain ahead and safely fly the jet over all obstructions before resuming nap-of-the-earth operations --VAYUAEROSPACE-Enter-the-Rafale.pdf

 

[Whitecollar]

rafale is known for its terrain masking abilities french forces are probably expert in this, The radar explicitly mentions a terrain following mode and that too autonomous ,for low flyers mica ir will be the key and one more thing is rafale's ability to fire mica ir backwards(at six) without turning back ,this ability was showcased at distance of 18km distance ,meteor has 2 way datalink through which any rafale can redirect it towards the target,not that easy to evade

I was thinking of more like putting a Tomahawk style gliding wings on SFDR design. When a target is lost in Mountains or terrain, the missile automatically gains altitude, deploys wing and turns itself towards last position of enemy all the while gliding at 0.7-0.8 mach and scanning the horizon. Once the enemy's RWR shows clear and he comes back to recommit and is spotted by Radar, data link coupled with SFDR's seeker will command missile to full throttle in that direction.

 

[SARTHAK]

I was thinking of more like putting a Tomahawk style gliding wings on SFDR design. When a target is lost in Mountains or terrain, the missile automatically gains altitude, deploys wing and turns itself towards last position of enemy all the while gliding at 0.7-0.8 mach and scanning the horizon. Once the enemy's RWR shows clear and he comes back to recommit and is spotted by Radar, data link coupled with SFDR's seeker will command missile to full throttle in that direction.

good idea ,but you never know the trajectory of such an advanced missile, especially when france focuses on low flying too much,

 

[johnj]

Meteors can be evaded even at 50km distance. It's the speed which makes Meteor so deadly cause of endgame booster. If you're using terrain masking, almost all BVRs fail at that point till you poke your head out of the terrain and go for a recommit.
Infact this was the reason I had a long debate with someone about including more number of BVRs for avg IAF fighter loadout plus atleast 2 CCMs. That's because the PoK region is mountaneous...anything you fire at PAF in a war, they'll quickly decend and try to hug the mountains for breaking our/missile's radar lock. So again we need to either push them by constant BVR firing or get behind them for the kill.
Meteors shine where our BVRs fail(at taking out ememy AWACS). If Rafale fires it using IRST, know that the Erieye's endgame has come.

Meteor cant use irst. rafale equipped with ir bvr missile. meteor having less speed compared to others and it controls its speed to increase kill probability. AWACS can see 420km away, and flys inside safe zone. That's because the PoK region is mountainous - a huge issue for fighter jets, efj/raptor can increase kill chance of bvr.
You are right, all fighter need at least 2ccm, but not becz of mountainous, and due to kill efficiency of ccm.

anything you fire at PAF in a war, they'll quickly decend and try to hug the mountains for breaking our/missile's radar lock - same applied to all missile including ccm, and ccm having more kill chance than bvr. IAF need to use asraam/mica ir ng to counter.

 

[johnj]

meteor has 2 way datalink through which any rafale can redirect it towards the target.

Some article says rafale only having 1 way data link with meteor.

 

[SARTHAK]

meteor has 2 way datalink through which any rafale can redirect it towards the target.

Some article says rafale only having 1 way data link with meteor.

https://www.saab.com/markets/india/...r-india/what-metor-capability-means-for-india check here

 

[johnj]

I was thinking of more like putting a Tomahawk style gliding wings on SFDR design. When a target is lost in Mountains or terrain, the missile automatically gains altitude, deploys wing and turns itself towards last position of enemy all the while gliding at 0.7-0.8 mach and scanning the horizon. Once the enemy's RWR shows clear and he comes back to recommit and is spotted by Radar, data link coupled with SFDR's seeker will command missile to full throttle in that direction.

Not making any sense, considering rf sensor is on [end game] and considering mountains. in terrain - ok.