Naval LCA Tejas

itsme

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It could eventually be a good trainer for pilots going into 5th gen aircrafts. From the sounds of it, it'll have avionics and other subsystems associated with 4.5 gen aircrafts. However, there is no firm demand for such a platform from the user, it's just a initiative they took.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. -------------
 

sorcerer

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DRDO launches naval Tejas fighter with Israeli, Russian missiles

The Defence Research and Development Organisation on Friday announced it had achieved another step in expanding the capabilities of the naval variant of the indigenous Tejas fighter, which is under development.

In a tweet, the DRDO announced it had launched the aircraft with two beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles and two close-combat missiles from its land-based testing facility. The DRDO's official Twitter handle informed, "One more step in launch capability expansion for LCA Navy. Two BVR plus Two CCM missiles.”

The beyond-visual-range missile is the Derby, a radar-guided missile from Israel, and the close-combat missile is the R-73 from Russia, a weapon that uses infra-red guidance.

DRDO also tweeted an image of the naval Tejas aircraft taking off from a 'ski-jump' at the shore-based test facility in Goa. Ski-jumps help an aircraft take off on their own power, while improving their climb rate. Ski-jumps are the only option to launch aircraft at higher weights for aircraft carriers lacking catapults for assisted take-offs. The shore-based facility simulates the launch of aircraft from aircraft carriers such as the INS Vikramaditya and the under-construction INS Viraat, both of which use ski-jumps.

The Derby missile was first purchased by the Indian Navy nearly a decade ago for its Sea Harrier fighters, which are now retired. The missile is also in service with the Indian Air Force in its ground-launched SpyDer air defence system. The Derby missile can shoot down a target nearly 60km away. Interestingly, Israel's Rafael, the company building the Derby, has offered to sell India an upgraded variant of the weapon called the I-Derby ER, which has a range of 100km.

In April last year, a Tejas fighter successfully tested a Derby missile.

The R-73 has been in service with the Indian Air Force and Navy for several years on their Russian-origin fighter jets. The R-73, a highly manoeuvrable missile, can hit a target about 25-30km by homing in on its heat emissions. Interestingly, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman claimed to have shot down a Pakistani F-16 with an R-73 missile fired from his MiG-21 fighter during the February aerial skirmish over the LoC.

The test flight with the Derby and R-73 missiles marks another milestone for the naval Tejas programme, which was almost staring at an abyss in 2017, when the Indian Navy sought to disassociate itself from the initiative on the grounds the aircraft was 'underpowered'. Since then, the Indian Navy has sought to obtain a 'Mk2' variant equipped with a higher-thrust engine.

In November, the naval Tejas achieved its first night-time arrested landing at the shore-based test facility, two months after the first successful arrested landing. Arrested landings are an essential part of aircraft carrier operations.



https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2...as-fighter-with-israeli-russian-missiles.html
 

Prashant12

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After numerous successful traps, Naval LCA headed for deck trials. Check position of LEVCONs & inboard slats (AD geeks). Check compressed nose oleo (structure guys). Most jets break up at this load. Hands-off T/O. Auto-throttle ldg. Extended BVR carriage. The list is endless.





 

Prashant12

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Naval Tejas gets airborne with weapons, ready to operate from aircraft carrier by March

In Goa on Friday, the naval version of the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) set a landmark by taking off with the added weight of weapons on board – two long range and two close combat air-to-air missiles.

The Tejas prototype took off from the navy’s Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF), but exactly as it would have from an aircraft carrier. Restraining gear locked the fighter’s wheels as the engine revved up to maximum power. Then, as the restraining gear disengaged, the unleashed fighter rocketed forward. Exactly 204 metres later – the length of an aircraft carrier deck – the fighter sped over a ski-jump and was airborne.

Girish Deodhare, chief of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) agency in charge of the Tejas programme, told Business Standard the Naval Tejas has now completed over 50 take-offs from the SBTF, with increasing weight and decreasing take-off distance. In addition, the naval fighter has carried out 28 arrested landings.

“We are now confident the Naval Tejas is ready for an actual carrier deck landing. In the first quarter of 2020, we will land the prototype on INS Vikramaditya and take off from the aircraft carrier as well,” Deodhare told Business Standard.

This requires the navy’s only aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, to be freed from operational duties and made available for testing. Before the first landing, the Naval Tejas will first make a few approaches for the test pilots to see how the fighter reacts to the warships “wake” – the wind turbulence created by structures on the warship, which buffets the approaching fighter. Once the pilots are comfortable with that, they will actually land the fighter on the carrier’s deck.

A carrier deck landing is best described as a “controlled crash”. The fighter’s tail hook must engage with wires laid across the landing deck, which unspool, dragging the fighter to a halt quickly. To achieve the extreme precision this requires, the fighter must descend much more sharply than in a regular landing, with the impact absorbed by the heavy landing gear that characterises naval fighters.

If the first landing and take-off goes off uneventfully, it will be followed by more, as the test pilots generate inputs to fine-tune the software that controls carrier landings and take-offs, which are largely controlled by flight computers.

At the same time, ADA and the navy would fine-tune the drills for operating a fighter from a carrier. This includes maintaining an aircraft on board, preparing it for flight, taking it on a lift from the hangers below decks to the flight deck and the drills for getting airborne and landing.

ADA sources say about 200 technicians have already lived on aircraft carriers, to fine tune maintenance and operating drills on board.

The navy, however, does not intend to induct the single-engine Naval Tejas Mark I into service – it is merely a test-bed for the aviation systems that will equip the twin-engine Naval Tejas Mark 2. The navy wants the safety back up of a second engine, the power to get airborne with more fuel and weapons, and a longer operating range.

“Using navy-specified technologies matured with the current Mark I, we are developing a twin-engine Mark 2 version, which we are calling the Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TED-BF),” said Deodhare.

With the current Tejas’ single General Electric (GE) F-404 engine replaced by two, more powerful, GE F-414 engines, the TED-BF will be a far bigger and heavily armed fighter.

The current Tejas Mark 1 gets airborne with a total “all-up weight” (AUW) of 14 tonnes. The air force version of the Tejas Mark 2, which will have a single GE F-414 engine, will have an AUW of 17 tonnes. And the navy’s Tejas Mark 2 (or the TED-BF), powered by two GE F-414 engines, will have a beefy AUW of 24 tonnes, says Deodhare.

ADA is targeting 2025-26 for the first flight of the TED-BF. The navy wants the fighter to be inducted into service by 2031, to replace the MiG-29K/KUB that currently flies off INS Vikramaditya and will also serve on board the first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, when it is commissioned in 2021.
 

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