LCA Tejas and derivatives news and discussion (reincarnated)

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Great perspectives ahead. Nice rebound in the Teja's story. 

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This article was posted quite a few months ago, and I'm reposting it since it has a wealth of information on the Tejas Mk2 Medium Weight Fighter (MWF), which is being designed as a next gen Mirage-2000 analogue, and will replace both the Mirage-2000 and MiG-29 in IAF service.

Interesting times ahead, given that the Indian Navy has asked for a twin engine Deck Based Fighter, of which an Air Force variant can also be developed if the IAF so desires.

As compared to the 17,5000 kg MTOW of the Tejas Mk2 MWF, the twin engine DBF is being designed to a MTOW of 24,000 kg. If it succeeds, it will offer the IAF an indigenous 4.5 gen twin engine MRCA fighter that can complement the 5th gen AMCA.

All image credits to the authors of the DDR article.

Tracking the Tejas- the Tejas Mk2 grows a pair becomes a Medium Weight Fighter

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The article has a very interesting table comparing the Tejas Mk1, Tejas Mk2 MWF, Gripen and Mirage-2000 to see where the Tejas Mk2 MWF fits in.  Basically giving the IAF a next generation indigenous Mirage-2000 like fighter for the next 40 years.

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Bengaluru, March 25, 2019:

Recently HAL had received drawings and documents related to FOC with limited clearance for LCA (Tejas) from CEMILAC and ADA. With this HAL can start working towards productionisation of FOC standard fighter aircraft.  The first aircraft in FOC configuration may roll-out by the end of this calendar year.  

Source HAL:  https://hal-india.co.in/HAL%20Produces%2016/ND__259

It is near the end of the year. Was not the schedule to deliver 16 FOC Mk1 frames by end March 2020? Anyone know what's going on (or not going on)?

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I don't know where you got the bit that all 16 FOC Tejas Mk1 fighters were to be delivered by March 2020.

The target is 4 fighters before March 2020. The remaining 12 will be delivered over the next year, and then the 8 Tejas Mk1 trainers will have to be delivered.

 

 

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And in other more important news, the MoD, IAF and HAL have finalized negotiations on the price for the 83 Tejas Mk1A fighters. The price of the contract is Rs 26,000 crores, which works out to Rs 310 crore per fighter.

So basically the Tejas Mk1A will cost ~$35 million. Damn cheap for what will be one of the most sophisticated light fighter jets in the world.  But I'm disappointed that the delivery schedule will drag on till 2028 at 16 jets per year. Really hope for more - like 20 or 24 per year.

Rs 26k crore order for Tejas Mk1A to open door for Mk2

Indian Air Force (IAF) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) have fixed the price of the Tejas Mark 1A light combat aircraft (LCA) at about Rs 310 crore per fighter, say Ministry of Defence (MoD) sources involved in the negotiations.
Now HAL is awaiting a formal contract, worth some Rs 26,000 crore for building 83 Tejas Mark 1A fighters that the MoD has already green-lighted for purchase. According to the agreed schedule, delivery of the Mark 1A will begin 36 months after the contract date. If the order is placed at the start of 2020, Tejas Mark IA deliveries will start in 2023.
With 16 fighters to be delivered each year it would take another five years to deliver all 83 fighters – that is by 2028.

“We should be signing the contract very soon”, IAF boss, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, had said on October 4. That is now imminent.

Girish Deodhare, chief of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) – the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) agency responsible for the Tejas programme – spoke exclusively to Business Standard about the Tejas Mark 1A fighter. He described it as a bridge between the current Tejas Mark 1 and the Mark 2 fighter that ADA is developing. He says the latter will be, from the standpoint of size, sophistication and capability, far superior to the Mark 1 fighter.

“Initially the Tejas Mark 2 was planned to be just a re-engined Mark 1 (with a more powerful engine). However, with the advent of the Mark 1A, it was decided that Tejas Mark 2 would be configured with significantly higher capabilities. While the ‘all up weight’ (maximum take-off weight, with fuel and weapons) of Tejas Mark 1 is 13.5 tonnes, the Mark 2 will be 17.5 tonnes, taking it into the medium weight category. It will also carry an 85 per cent higher weapons load,” said Deodhare.

While ADA is developing the Mark 2 fighter, HAL is building the Mark 1A, with ADA contributing its expertise in avionics, flight controls, aerodynamics and structural analysis.

While the Tejas Mark 2 will be almost a generation ahead of the Mark 1 fighter, even the interim Tejas Mark 1A will be far more capable. The IAF has demanded five new capabilities in the Mark 1A, including “active electronic scanned array” (AESA) radar, with multi-tasking capability that would give it a clear combat edge over Pakistan’s entire fighter fleet, and most of China’s as well.

 “The initial batches of the Tejas Mark 1A may field an imported AESA radar, but the DRDO is developing its indigenous Uttam AESA radar. As soon as it is proven, the Uttam will start equipping the Tejas Mark 1A,” said Deodhare.

The Uttam AESA radar is already flying on a Tejas prototype and has completed 11 successful test flights. “We need to do a couple of more years of flight testing before it is certified and ready for production. Thereafter, all Tejas Mark 1A will incorporate the indigenous radar”, he said.

This incremental approach is also evident in the “digital flight control computer” (DFCC) – a fighter aircraft’s brain – that ADA has designed and qualified for the Tejas Mark 2. The upgraded DFCC is ready and qualified, but it could not go into the Mark 1A because it was built bigger to allow easier maintenance access in the larger Mark 2 fighter.

 “We took the upgraded cards from the Tejas Mark 2’s DFCC and installed them into the smaller Mark 1 DFCC chassis, effectively upgrading it for the Mark IA.  The new Mark 1A DFCC will have significantly higher processing power allows us to add many more advanced capabilities in the FCS,” said Deodhare.

In addition, the Tejas Mark IA is being upgraded with a “self-protection jammer” (SPJ), also supplied by Elta, which the IAF has demanded in order to confuse incoming missiles. Each Mark 1A fighter will carry a SPJ on a pod under its wing, sharing a mounting station with an air-to-air missile.

Giving the Tejas Mark 2 the contemporary look of the Rafale and Eurofighter, it will be built with canards on the front of the fuselage.  These fin-like structures serve to make the aircraft unstable, and therefore more manoeuvrable. Deodhare says ADA decided to fit canards after discovering that increasing the Mark 2’s internal fuel capacity to 3300 kilogrammes (from 2400 kg in the Mark1) made the fighter excessively stable. Placing canards near the nose of the aircraft regained its manoeuvrability.

“We are targeting the first flight of the Tejas Mark 2 by 2023. We are confident of this since most of the technologies that will go into it are already matured through LCA Mark 1,” said Deodhare.

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And in other more important news, the MoD, IAF and HAL have finalized negotiations on the price for the 83 Tejas Mk1A fighters. The price of the contract is Rs 26,000 crores, which works out to Rs 310 crore per fighter.

So basically the Tejas Mk1A will cost ~$35 million. Damn cheap for what will be one of the most sophisticated light fighter jets in the world.  But I'm disappointed that the delivery schedule will drag on till 2028 at 16 jets per year. Really hope for more - like 20 or 24 per year.

Good news. What a bargain!

IMO GoI will be missing a trick if production capacity is not increased - it helps to replace MiG's faster or helps to slot any small extra orders (eg exports) in without much disruption to IAF delivery schedule.

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Sorry, my bad..I don't know how I got that simple calculation wrong- Rs 310 crore per Tejas (including spares, support and simulators) works out to $ 44.2 million.

Nevertheless, still a bargain. Out of the 83 contracted jets, 73 Mk1A will be single seaters and 10 will be Tejas Mk1 trainers at the FOC level.

So after the 16 FOC jets are delivered, HAL will begin work on the 18 trainers. After that, the single seat Mk1A deliveries will begin.

My guess is that the reason for the deliveries being spread out till 2028 is to give adequate time for the Tejas Mk1 MWF to finish flight testing and be ready for production. The same line will transition to delivering Mk2 MWF jets after the Mk1A deliveries are complete.

 

 

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Naval LCA within striking distance of deck operations on INS Vikramaditya

Indian Navy is currently studying the test data before giving the green light for the first ever arrested landing and then take off, of a Naval LCA from an aircraft carrier. This program is setting the background and providing the invaluable experience for the next indigenous naval fighter, the twin engine Deck Based Fighter from ADA and HAL.

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Tejas Mk2 MWF cockpit details are out, based on some tenders that ADA released for full mission simulators. Large Area Display and 1 MFD center console display will be used in the MWF cockpit, as was rumoured.

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HAL Test Pilot Grp Cpt HV Thakur put this image of a twin engine Tejas based design out on Twitter.

Happy New Year World! Incredible things to come...

He went on to explain that

This is a coarse surface model, to estimate ball-park sizing, rough positioning, etc. Especially overall size, to fit into small spaces on deck & blast pens. Interesting inputs. Thanks everyone.

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Twin engine, based off the MWF with canards, and currently still in the process of being sized. Very possibly, the Navy's TEDBF fighter design will be similar to this and will lead to an Air Force variant being offered to the IAF as well. Rafale sized I would expect.

 

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***

Twin engine, based off the MWF with canards, and currently still in the process of being sized. Very possibly, the Navy's TEDBF fighter design will be similar to this and will lead to an Air Force variant being offered to the IAF as well. Rafale sized I would expect.

Archer,

The new twin-engined naval version is impressive but hat happened to this naval version (attached image)? Has it been dropped?

 

 

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Hi Quantum. Yes the single F-414 powered Naval LCA Mk2 design with the stabilators has been abandoned. the Indian Navy finally made it official to ADA that it would not acquire single engine carrier fighters and that left ADA with no option but to begin the process for the design of a new twin engine TEDBF design, powered by 2 F-414 engines.

As of now, what we know is that target MTOW is 24 tonnes, which is in the same range as the MiG-29K and Rafale M, but the thrust is significantly more than the M-88 on the Rafale M. 2 X 98 kN F-414 engines will give it nearly 196 kN of total thrust, to allow for STOBAR ops off of IN's 2 STOBAR carriers with lower payload limitations in hot and humid conditions. It is targeted as a replacement for the IN's MiG-29K fleet.

Rafale M is great for CATOBAR ops, but for STOBAR ops, it will have payload limitations, especially in the hot and humid Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal environs.

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15 years 3 months

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Hi Quantum. Yes the single F-414 powered Naval LCA Mk2 design with the stabilators has been abandoned. the Indian Navy finally made it official to ADA that it would not acquire single engine carrier fighters and that left ADA with no option but to begin the process for the design of a new twin engine TEDBF design, powered by 2 F-414 engines.

As of now, what we know is that target MTOW is 24 tonnes, which is in the same range as the MiG-29K and Rafale M, but the thrust is significantly more than the M-88 on the Rafale M. 2 X 98 kN F-414 engines will give it nearly 196 kN of total thrust, to allow for STOBAR ops off of IN's 2 STOBAR carriers with lower payload limitations in hot and humid conditions. It is targeted as a replacement for the IN's MiG-29K fleet.

Rafale M is great for CATOBAR ops, but for STOBAR ops, it will have payload limitations, especially in the hot and humid Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal environs.

Cool! Thanks for the reply. A twin-engined version does make sense for a naval fighter.

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History made as India's Naval LCA makes 1st arrested landing on Aircraft Carrier

Making it the first homegrown aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier deck, a prototype of the naval Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘trapped’ on the Indian Navy’s sole aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya today out in the Arabian Sea. Hailed as a major milestone, the Indian Navy has declared, ‘With this feat, the indigenously developed niche technologies specific to deck based fighter operations have been proven, which will now pave the way to develop and manufacture the Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter for the Indian Navy.’

The historic sortie was commanded by Commodore Jaideep Maolankar, who heads the N-LCA flight test. The flight marks a milestone in a journey that has been beset with odds at virtually every level.

The debut arrested landing on INS Vikramaditya’s deck took place during a pre-scheduled operational deployment of the aircraft carrier group in the Arabian Sea, and comes four months after the N-LCA test team conducted a first full launch and recovery from the shore-based ski jump test facility at the INS Hansa air station in Goa. Arrested night landings were conducted in September last year, with the the test team quickly becoming focused on achieving a deck landing before long. That it took four months to get there will be a huge confidence boost to a team that, ironically, faces giving up the N-LCA platform entirely.

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I guess edits are not possible.
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First images of Naval LCA prototype NP-2 landing on INS Vikramaditya. A historic maiden landing of an indigenously designed and developed Indian fighter on a carrier

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From Vishnu Som's Twitter feed

Twitter link

1. Exclusive details on today's LCA Navy prototype landing on the deck of the aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya. The LCA N, piloted by Commodore Jaideep Maolankar, snagged the third wire on the deck of the ship. The target was the second wire.
2. The first take-offs happen tomorrow off the INS Vikramaditya's ski jump.
3. The twin seat Tejas N prototype makes its landing tomorrow flown by Captain Dahiya, the second test Tejas N test pilot.
4. There will be more than 20 tests of the Tejas N off the Vikramaditya. Extensive ten day intensive flying campaign underway.
5. There was 23 knots of wind at the time of approach today ... Touchdown was at a comfortable 128 knots relative to the speed of the carrier.
6. The aircraft tested today was in a clean configuration.
7. The landing has been described to me as being an anti-climax given the extensive preparations ahead of the sortie today.
8. A process of extensive documentation preceded the actual first landing today - key to officially validating a lot of the technologies being tested.
9. The preparation for the sortie was very thorough - enough fuel was carried to ensure a return to Goa in the event of the aircraft being unable to snag an arresting wire using its arrestor hook.
10. The aircraft tested today had max fuel on board and no dummy weapons.
11. The learning curve has proven to be massive - someone associated with the project told me ``How little we knew in September.''
12. Lots of tests can now be done based on the usage data generated through multiple sorties which are being flown over the next few days.