LCA TEJAS MK1 & MK1A: News and Discussion

[Dark Sorrow]

India offers to set up production facilities for light combat aircraft, copters in Egypt

Synopsis
A series of high-level engagements have taken place with the nation and the Egyptian Air Force chief is expected to visit India in a few days, during which expertise in manufacturing as well as maintenance of aircraft fleet will be showcased. Air chief Marshal VR Chaudhari had visited Egypt in November last year and attended the Air Power Symposium and Defence Exposition in Cairo.

India has offered to set up production facilities for the manufacturing of light combat aircraft (LCA) as well as helicopters in Egypt as it pursues export opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa region.

A series of high-level engagements have taken place with the nation and the Egyptian Air Force chief is expected to visit India in a few days, during which expertise in manufacturing as well as maintenance of aircraft fleet will be showcased.

Air chief Marshal VR Chaudhari had visited Egypt in November last year and attended the Air Power Symposium and Defence Exposition in Cairo. At present, a 57-member Indian Air Force delegation is in Egypt to take part in a tactical leadership programme at the Air Force school in Cairo. The delegation includes three Su30 MKI and two C17 aircraft.

Sources said the Egyptian Air Force has a requirement of close to 70 light combat jets, with a focus on local production and technology transfer. At present, the nation operates a mixed fleet of US, French and Russian origin jets and has been keen on setting up aeronautical manufacturing facilities.

Besides the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A that is on offer to the nation, Indian manufacturer
Hindustan Aeronautics is also pitching its range of indigenous choppers like the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) as well.

“Be it the fixed wing requirement or the rotary wing requirement, India is offering to jointly set up production facilities there. There is a significant demand in that region for such aircraft and Egypt will be a good base,” sources said.

The Indian LCA is priced at around $42 million per unit, a price made possible given economies of scale after the IAF placed an order for 83 fighter jets of the Mk1A variant. As reported, India has emerged as the frontrunner for a Malaysian requirement of light combat aircraft, with a package deal on the table that would include maintenance and spares for the nation’s Russian origin Su 30 fighter jets.

India offers to set up production facilities for light combat aircraft, helicopters in Egypt

A series of high-level engagements have taken place with the nation and the Egyptian Air Force chief is expected to visit India in a few days, during which expertise in manufacturing as well as maintenance of aircraft fleet will be showcased. Air chief Marshal VR Chaudhari had visited Egypt in...

economictimes.indiatimes.com

 

[kamaal]

Egypt looks better prospect than Malaysia, they have money and there is no need of non-defense deal to entice the buyer. There is a strong chance of making profit in this deal.

 

[Arjun Mk1A]

Egypt is another zoo of aircrafts, Russian, American and now Indian.

 

[SKC]

I always thought if we have to sell it in middle east then offer it first to Israel. If needed give 2-3 piece for free evaluation.
How would offer to Egypt stand with Israel. They did have normalized relations with Israel thought but not sure how well Israel would react.

 

[SKC]

Egypt is another zoo of aircrafts, Russian, American and now Indian.

They are unique in having defence hardware from everywhere: Americans, Russians, French, Chinese, etc.

 

[Longewala]

I always thought if we have to sell it in middle east then offer it first to Israel. If needed give 2-3 piece for free evaluation.
How would offer to Egypt stand with Israel. They did have normalized relations with Israel thought but not sure how well Israel would react.

Don't worry, Israel will get free pieces for evaluation whenever they have their next war with Egypt.

 

[Assassin 2.0]

Why would anyone seriously consider selling Tejas aircraft to Malaysia which by the way is not a friendly country? Just because their leader has changed doesn't mean they are now all cozy with India. I am pretty sure the Pakis will be given unlimited access behind the scenes if Malaysia has the Jet in their possession.

Earn money develop new equipment and keep on improving and development. Our flankers by that logic removing radar and electronic suit are also well read by porks but does that makes them useless. Rafale is also used by Qatar ( and seeing how anti India they are these days it would not be a far stretched thing to imagine that porks can't get some hands on them also).
We should sell our products to everyone and us that money to improve our infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities that will out set any experience which porks can gain and don't forget when we export our equipments to some country they are also bound to use in one way or another. Remember we couldn't use American Warships because of terms and conditions. Tejas which is a very limitedly manufactured when compared Flankers or F-16 means that for spares Malaysia is totally dependent on us.

 

[Dark Sorrow]

They are unique in having defence hardware from everywhere: Americans, Russians, French, Chinese, etc.

Let hope now India.

 

[Dark Sorrow]

Why would anyone seriously consider selling Tejas aircraft to Malaysia which by the way is not a friendly country? Just because their leader has changed doesn't mean they are now all cozy with India. I am pretty sure the Pakis will be given unlimited access behind the scenes if Malaysia has the Jet in their possession.

It all comes down to money.
We need return on investment for ADA, NAL and DRDO to carry next round of development.
At the end of day its all business.
I don't think Malaysia will give Pakistan unfettered access, as they (Malaysia) knows if Pakistan gets this information it will reach PRC who is the main challenger to Malaysia.
Even if Pakistan gets unfettered access to Tejas, they won't get the source code and EW libraries. Pakistan nor Malaysia have RF-analysis lab to study RCS or RF patter of Radar or EW Suite. They also don't have wind tunnel to study flight characteristics.
Malaysia can get this information by using the aircraft but I doubt they would share weakness of their own platform that can reach its own adversaries. Malaysia will be more interested in solving problems if any in Tejas rather than sharing them with Pakistan.
More important point IAF will be aware of Tejas shortcoming due to detailed testing and usage, so we won't get blindsided.

 

[Aditya Ballal]

“All 32 Tejas MK1 single-seaters have been produced by HAL and at least 25 (16 IOC standard + 9 FOC standard) have already entered service with the Air Force. So, that is where things stand as on date”. - Saurav Jha.

 

[HariPrasad-1]

The real fun will start with Kaveri 75/125. It will be an outstanding engine and will MWF very fast much more payload. MWF and Kaveri 125 shall be a great combination. We shall have GAN based based AESA by then.

 

[NutCracker]

We shall have GAN based based AESA by then.

We will have GAN based AESA way before 125kN Kaveri .

 

[HariPrasad-1]

We will have GAN based AESA way before 125kN Kaveri .

That is what I said.

 

[HariPrasad-1]

“All 32 Tejas MK1 single-seaters have been produced by HAL and at least 25 (16 IOC standard + 9 FOC standard) have already entered service with the Air Force. So, that is where things stand as on date”. - Saurav Jha.

I am very eager to see Tejas Mk1 A fly. I am more interested in seeing aerodynamic Improvement, Weight reduction and improvement in platform. Tejas is going to be a great platform with great electronics, radar and best of weapons.

 

[WarmongerLSK]

I am very eager to see Tejas Mk1 A fly. I am more interested in seeing aerodynamic Improvement, Weight reduction and improvement in platform. Tejas is going to be a great platform with great electronics, radar and best of weapons.

mk1A is only a rearrangement of internal stuff. i.e. rearranging organs, and same airframe. In one of the Hamara Tejas episodes, Dr. Kota says ki when developing mk1, they just put everything as it came into the Tejas airframe. Because of this it is not the most optimised in terms of maintenance.
1. No change in the platform design, so, no aerodynamic improvement.
2. Same internals, so, there won't be any reduction in weight unless new avionics will come which I doubt is the case since it will increase the testing time. Although Uttam might be included and the weight distribution will change and they will have to recalibrate the flight control algos.
3. Improvement in maintenance, will eek out that last ounce of performance if possible.

 

[DocK]

mk1A is only a rearrangement of internal stuff. i.e. rearranging organs, and same airframe. In one of the Hamara Tejas episodes, Dr. Kota says ki when developing mk1, they just put everything as it came into the Tejas airframe. Because of this it is not the most optimised in terms of maintenance.
1. No change in the platform design, so, no aerodynamic improvement.
2. Same internals, so, there won't be any reduction in weight unless new avionics will come which I doubt is the case since it will increase the testing time. Although Uttam might be included and the weight distribution will change and they will have to recalibrate the flight control algos.
3. Improvement in maintenance, will eek out that last ounce of performance if possible.

I believe that our designers should be made to work with aircraft maintenance technicians during war games before being sent to design the aircraft that is to be allowed. Also a couple of experienced technicians should be involved in designing of the aircraft throughout the development.

 

[WarmongerLSK]

I believe that our designers should be made to work with aircraft maintenance technicians during war games before being sent to design the aircraft that is to be allowed. Also a couple of experienced technicians should be involved in designing of the aircraft throughout the development.

They do involve technicians I think. They had to do it like this since it is our first aircraft and step by step they added the LRUs. The setup once optimised in mk1A will be replicated and modified for mk2. In fact, the technicians that maintain the Tejas on ground say that it is one of the most maintainable aircrafts because if has got excellent diagnostic systems. They will tell you where the issue is, what the issue probably is and what the solution is. All this is taken from Hamara Tejas BTW. Great series, must watch: YouTube.

 

[ShukantC]

What happened to the Tejas Mk1-A first flight wasn't it supposed to happen this Month?

 

[HariPrasad-1]

mk1A is only a rearrangement of internal stuff. i.e. rearranging organs, and same airframe. In one of the Hamara Tejas episodes, Dr. Kota says ki when developing mk1, they just put everything as it came into the Tejas airframe. Because of this it is not the most optimised in terms of maintenance.
1. No change in the platform design, so, no aerodynamic improvement.
2. Same internals, so, there won't be any reduction in weight unless new avionics will come which I doubt is the case since it will increase the testing time. Although Uttam might be included and the weight distribution will change and they will have to recalibrate the flight control algos.
3. Improvement in maintenance, will eek out that last ounce of performance if possible.

Read bellow article. What I said in my post is extensively discussed here. It is an expert of Aerodynamic study carried out by to improve Tejas Performance.

Tracking The Tejas: The Design Evolution Of An Indian Fighter Part-I | Delhi Defence Review

delhidefencereview.com

 

[Narasimh]

mk1A is only a rearrangement of internal stuff. i.e. rearranging organs, and same airframe. In one of the Hamara Tejas episodes, Dr. Kota says ki when developing mk1, they just put everything as it came into the Tejas airframe. Because of this it is not the most optimised in terms of maintenance.
1. No change in the platform design, so, no aerodynamic improvement.
2. Same internals, so, there won't be any reduction in weight unless new avionics will come which I doubt is the case since it will increase the testing time. Although Uttam might be included and the weight distribution will change and they will have to recalibrate the flight control algos.
3. Improvement in maintenance, will eek out that last ounce of performance if possible.

Wasn't there a ballast weight which was supposed to be removed in mk1a for extra fuel