LCA TEJAS MK1 & MK1A: News and Discussion

[Steven Rogers]

I wish it could happen, Ordering more number of Indigenous fighter aircraft to replace the number of Mig-21 and Older Jaguar Aircraft which are not in maritime strike role. But Problem is IAF will lobby for more number of Rafales to replace the older aircraft, apart from Bijendra Singh Dhanoa former Air Chief and present chief Rakesh Kumar Bahaduria, all other former Airchiefs were insisting on Rafale that too in three digits. Politicians are bound to give in after some time because of huge public out cry over falling of squadrons and sign the deal with France for more aircraft. Indian Airforce would have done what you have quoted above if Pakistan had not scaled down its original order of 66 F-16 Block 52 aircraft in the year 2005. If Pakistan had got all those F-16 , Indian Airforce would have rushed for more Tejas Jets to bridge the shortfall of numbers, Pakistan reduced the order to 18. It gave IAF enough time to evaluate MMRCA.

Big number of Rafales is desired but they should be kept for the special missions like the Balakot,they shouldn't be prepared for the QRT missions which can cheaply and effectively be done by the Light aircrafts,during the phase of war,one would require large number of these fighters so that they do the job qualitatively but with relatively less expenditure and cost.

 

[Tupac slayer]

Big number of Rafales is desired but they should be kept for the special missions like the Balakot,they shouldn't be prepared for the QRT missions which can cheaply and effectively be done by the Light aircrafts,during the phase of war,one would require large number of these fighters so that they do the job qualitatively but with relatively less expenditure and cost.

Yes Number of Rafales can be increased, but IAF wants Rafales for all types of roles, Interdiction, Ground Strike , Air to Air combat. 100 Rafales for Deep Strike along with MKI . Tejas can perform CAPS mission and CAS roles if required by army. Air to Air combat can be done by Rafales and any other AMCA or any 5th Generation fighter.

 

[Tupac slayer]

Big number of Rafales is desired but they should be kept for the special missions like the Balakot,they shouldn't be prepared for the QRT missions which can cheaply and effectively be done by the Light aircrafts,during the phase of war,one would require large number of these fighters so that they do the job qualitatively but with relatively less expenditure and cost.

clear my doubt? Are we now using SU-30MKI in QRT Roles due to lack of medium and light combat aircraft?

 

[Chandragupt Maurya]

Tejas has better Radars and other electronics than mig21 bison but can Tejas beat Mig21 bison in a dogfight or within visual range fight ? I am asking this because Mig21 bison is highly maneuverable has instantaneous turn rate
Though Tejas is always superior to Mig21 bison because days of dogfights are numbered

 

[Bleh]

clear my doubt? Are we now using SU-30MKI in QRT Roles due to lack of medium and light combat aircraft?

Everybody thay can fly participles QRT... Short ranged, quickly deployable jets at forward bases like Tejas & faster jets like Mig-21/29 would be used for interception but others would be in area defence roles.

...Mig21 bison is highly maneuverable has instantaneous turn rate

By 1960s standard.
And don't just make random comments like that.

Wings that small can't produce high instantaneous turn rate. Mig-21 has decent STR but 12-13°/sec is still nothing compared to F-16 or Mig-29 that came along later. Even IOC Tejas outdoes it by atleast 5°/sec, with near 10°/sec more at ITR.

 

[Assassin 2.0]

 

[samsaptaka]

Research Center Imarat..
Any idea whether Cannons are installed on IOC Tejas?

I've seen this RCI , it is on the way to Hyderabad intl' airport. But the thing that struck me was that
its very close to an almost 100% abdul area which looks like mini porkistan . So I always think how much of the stuff done in RCI is leaked out to porkistan ? God only knows ... Anyway this is OT..

 

[Flying Dagger]

India does not need 42 sqs and will not have enough pilots enough standoff weapons bases and logistics support to maintain 42 sqds.

This number cane from an era in the 1980S when air power was without force multipliers cyber warfare and asymmetrical warefare.

We need 32 sqd only but they need to be no junk in this ie
260 su30 mki including 120 super mki
80 rafales
80 mig29upg
50 mirage2000
120 tejas
By 2030

Then mark 2 tejas from 2030 alongside f35 lightening
We can't wait for Amca this is 20 years away we need f35 by 2030 in 3 sqs

We need 32 Sqd only ? Wrong.

Though we don't have enough Force multiplier as of now but if in future we get them even then we are forgetting that our enemies are getting them and still.maintaining their fleetsize.

Right now IAF is keeping it's airfleet availability pretty high due to shortage of fighter jets. That takes lot of money , If we had enough number of jets on ground we could have kept the availability rate low and do with the op budget we get. But during war time we can bring the availability rate high and benefit from the jets already available.

You are saying in a nation of 1.4 bn + we don't have pilots to fly the jet?

And there will always be a mix of outdated ones and advanced ones.

Mirage 2k and Mig 29 UPG we fly aren't the advanced breed of fighter jet today.

Even Sukhoi are outdated unless they gets an upgrade now and long range BVRs.

We have 5 Rafale with AESA and 2 updated Jags I guess. That's our modern airforce Tech edge

If we don't spend heavy on Airforce rest will be all useless.

 

[VIP]

Hottttt.......

 

[The Maverick]

We need 32 Sqd only ? Wrong.

Though we don't have enough Force multiplier as of now but if in future we get them even then we are forgetting that our enemies are getting them and still.maintaining their fleetsize.

Right now IAF is keeping it's airfleet availability pretty high due to shortage of fighter jets. That takes lot of money , If we had enough number of jets on ground we could have kept the availability rate low and do with the op budget we get. But during war time we can bring the availability rate high and benefit from the jets already available.

You are saying in a nation of 1.4 bn + we don't have pilots to fly the jet?

And there will always be a mix of outdated ones and advanced ones.

Mirage 2k and Mig 29 UPG we fly aren't the advanced breed of fighter jet today.

Even Sukhoi are outdated unless they gets an upgrade now and long range BVRs.

We have 5 Rafale with AESA and 2 updated Jags I guess. That's our modern airforce Tech edge

If we don't spend heavy on Airforce rest will be all useless.

We have 7 aesa equipped fighters
And people want 42 squadrons.
Every force has shrank even USA and China.
Why because more efficient stream lined multi role fighters with other assets like awacs long range Sam's and refuellrs and drones can be just has effective air power.

We never had 42 sqds ever
And the likelihood now is impossible
It will take 10 years to induct barely 100 tejas fighters at best another 40 rafale
That's a 170 modern platforms with aesa.
The rest 400 plus are near obselete in 2030
What we need is Massive order of rafale ie another 90 planes and build 120 tejas asap

 

[omaebakabaka]

If I was the PM/DM, I would focus on the RADARS, dumb bombs with guidance kits, a2a missiles and a2g missiles and all sorts of ammunition for artillery and infantry with a goal of completely eliminating imports in 10 to 15 years. Secure comms, interntworking is another area where our premier institutes should be put to challenge. Indians are not honest when they claim something as indigenous.....you can't import critical parts and call it indigenous. It makes no sense...if something is 70% indigenous then it should cover critical componets like engines, gearboxes e.t.c and 30% content is only because of economics for not going local. Self cheating is depressing...

 

[omaebakabaka]

Another fundamentally messed up mindset of India is being in defence mode vs offence like Pakis or Chinese....take the war and warfare to them? Everytime our forward airbases are under pressure and almost taken out due to enemies first strike....even after Balakot strike, how can they not anticipate overreaction from a failed state like Pak? Where is the spirit of "Veer Bhogya Vasundhara" of Raj Rif in action? No amount of military toys not matter how advanced is going to help us if we can't display our balls.....not even one soldier's life is worth wasting for incompetent south block generals that pride as someone pointed out basking in "stupid British" traditions.....anyway this rant belongs in different forum. You can have 136 rafale's but if you are not going to understand pak's offensive mindset then its pretty pathetic. With that said, India should settle for only 3 types of aircrafts (light fighter Tejas, Heavy fighter Sukhoi and Rafale).....maintenance and logistics is ridiculous with the airforce we have....same with Army. Navy seems to be the only force that acts with some brain.

 

[WolfPack86]

IAF looking for more Elbit DASH-IV HMDS system for LCA-Tejas

Tender issued by Directorate of Procurement of India Air Force (IAF) makes Public intent to procure 44 more DASH-IV Helmet Mounted Display and Sight (HMDS) from Elbit Systems as more LCA-Tejas are getting inducted into the IAF. DASH-IV enables pilots to aim their weapons simply by looking at the target and also project information similar to that of head-up displays (HUD) on a pilot’s visor or a reticle, thereby allowing them to obtain situational awareness and/or cue weapons systems to the direction his head is pointing. DASH measures the pilot’s Line-of-Sight (LOS) relative to the aircraft and transfers its information to other aircraft systems. Aircraft, sensors, avionics, and weapons are thus enslaved to the target. DASH is adaptable to any fighter/attack aircraft and will accommodate advanced missiles and smart weapon lock-on envelopes. DASH-IV also enhances the capabilities of Night Flying with Night Vision Goggles, provides Colour Day & Night Display, 3D symbology, Head Tracking, Sensors & Weapon Cuing. Bharat Electronics Limited and Elbit Systems of Israel have signed a technology collaboration agreement (TCA) for helmet-mounted display systems in 2019 under which licensed manufacturing of the Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) / Helmet Pointing System (HPS) Version 02 will be carried out by Bharat Electronics Limited for Military Helicopter pilots.

IAF looking for more Elbit DASH-IV HMDS system for LCA-Tejas – Indian Defence Research Wing

idrw.org

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

why cant we keep the Tejas Production line warm by ordering another 10 Two Seater Aircraft in FOC Variant ? If we receive all the aircraft including trainers by March 2021? Hal Tejas MK1 will roll out in 2023. In between in the year 2022 cant we induct atleast 5 aircraft or maximum 10, I believe 10 is not possible given production rate. Pakistan ordered additional 12 JF-17 Block II aircraft, when JF-17 Block 3 was delayed, Induction of these Jets should be encouraged by Government also.

The production isn't going to be idle. mk1A is going to be delivered starting from 2023. That means the assembly lines has to start manufacturing the planes by 2022. There is no idle time.
However there will be if evaluation of mk1A is delayed. Mk1A is purely an hal project and not of Ada so there won't be any fallback on blame. As of now they are testing various technologies in various LSPs and integrating them in one fighter and resolving the bugs is going to be a big issue.

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

Nepal doesn't have any indigenous gun industry. But for them to criticise Insas would not be "unbecoming"... Truth is truth. No matter who says it. And with good reason (as explained in several previous posts).

R-73 is no match to Python-5, ASRAAM, Mica etc. Performance of Russian AAMs in fields has been very unimpressive.

I believe many of missiles were bought from Ukrainian versions of R27, R73 etc. They might have literally sold Soviet stocks.

 

[WolfPack86]

And here’s the full clip! Full throttle take-off in a #Tejas

 

[Flying Dagger]

We have 7 aesa equipped fighters
And people want 42 squadrons.
Every force has shrank even USA and China.

Not people but IAF

not 42 but 42+

We never had 42 sqds ever

Again we had over 1000 fighter jets at one point of time So saying we never had 42 Sqd is completely wrong you should really read before saying such things.

42 / 45/49.5 these are three health levels for a two front war.

At 42 Sqd we will be actually shrinking our desired aircraft fleet anyway.

Chinese or American airforce aren't exactly shrinking either

USA can create an entire fleet of IAF size even bigger in a year or so during a war if they need. That is what we can't match.

China is churning out aircrafts and naval assets at an alarming rate along with huge logistics support.

Even PAF maintain 22 Sqd as of now.

IAF :

14-15 Tejas/ORCA

12-14 Sukhoi

250+ Jags/Mirage /Mig 29 --- to be replaced by AMCA - 214 - 11-12 Sqd

2 Sqd. Rafale ( 2-3 more to be inducted)

Around 42-45 planned. Rest Drones/UCV

 

[Brood Father]

The 'Tejas' Age Begins: As a 3 Decade Dream Comes True for IAF, the Sleek Aircraft Inspires a Movie & More - News18

The stationing of these aircraft along the sensitive and tense borders also marks the culmination of LCA Tejas’ 37-year-long journey from its conception to active duty.

www.news18.com

Tejas is everywhere now . Five years back it was widely claimed as a failure but thanks to Manohar Pariker it is a success now and soon Tejas will be known as one of best fighter of its era

 

[Tupac slayer]

The 'Tejas' Age Begins: As a 3 Decade Dream Comes True for IAF, the Sleek Aircraft Inspires a Movie & More - News18

The stationing of these aircraft along the sensitive and tense borders also marks the culmination of LCA Tejas’ 37-year-long journey from its conception to active duty.

www.news18.com

Tejas is everywhere now . Five years back it was widely claimed as a failure but thanks to Manohar Pariker it is a success now and soon Tejas will be known as one of best fighter of its era

Manohar Parrikar should have lived for a long time, We would have seen enhanced Defence Preparedness.

 

[omaebakabaka]

Manohar Parrikar should have lived for a long time, We would have seen enhanced Defence Preparedness.

I would be a bit more patient and reserve my optimism a bit more into the future as Tejas really has not proven anything yet but it is good to see circumstances, pressure and lack of options is forcing our govt, HAL and other institutions to back up their claims.