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Ajai Shukla /
Bangalore April 04, 2011,
0:22 IST With the Tejas Light Combat
Aircraft (LCA) entering
service with Indian Air Force
squadrons, the designers of
this indigenous fighter have
explained why they believe this will be the world s premier light fighter. The Tejas Mark-II, to be
developed by 2014 and roll off
production lines by 2018, will
perform 40 per cent better
than the current fighter. After
which would come the Advanced Medium Combat
Aircraft, the AMCA, which the
Defence Research and
Development Organisation
(DRDO) says will be a fifth- generation plus fighter, more formidable than anything
flying today. In an exclusive interview
with Business Standard, P
Subramanyam, director of the
Aeronautical Development
Agency (ADA), which is
developing the LCA and the AMCA, responded to IAF
criticism that the Tejas was
not yet a world-class fighter.
He said the Tejas Mark-I, still
being flight-tested, had been
flown to just 85 per cent of its full capability. The Tejas Mark-
II -- in which a more powerful
GE-414 engine will replace the
current GE-404 engine -- would
perform another 15 per cent
better. The Tejas Mark-I will expand its performance envelope to
its full capability by end-2012.
And, a major performance
boost will come from the
Tejas Mark-II s new GE-414 engine, for which we have
signed a $700-million (Rs 3,135
crore) contract to build here in
India. The Mark-II will
outperform the Mark-I by
about 15 per cent in the key aspects of take-off run, rate
of climb, acceleration, and turn
rate. Most of this would come
from the higher thrust of the
GE-414 engine. Another two-
three per cent benefit would come from better
aerodynamics since we will re-engineer the fighter to
accommodate the new engine.
That overall 35-40 per cent
improvement would make
the LCA the world s premier light fighter, says Subramanyam. The Tejas Mark-I is scheduled
to obtain Final Operational
Clearance by end-2012. A
fighter is granted FOC when
ready for combat missions,
with all its weapons and sensors fitted, integrated and
tested. The IAF worries that
the Tejas, already long
delayed, might not obtain its
FOC on schedule. Meanwhile, ADA designers are
working on the Tejas Mark-II,
which Subramanyam says
will fly by 2014, enter
production by 2016, and
obtain FOC by 2018. Besides re-designing the airframe to
accommodate the GE-414
engine, ADA will also grab the
opportunity to upgrade key
electronics, especially the
flight control computer and some avionics, so that the
Mark-II is a cutting-edge
fighter when it enters
service, says the ADA chief. No fancy plan Brushing aside apprehension
of further delay of the kind
that has dogged the Tejas
programme, Subramanyam
insists, Our design timeline is realistic. The main sub-systems
of the Tejas Mark-II will
remain unchanged, except for
electronics components. So,
the Mark-II will not need
extensive flight-testing, as most of its sub-systems will
have already been test-flown
on the Mark-I. ADA designers also say
maintainability of the Tejas has already been established.
This key attribute relates to
how quickly and easily
technicians can service and
repair the fighter and,
therefore, how quickly it can get out of a hangar and into
combat. Of 200 requests for action suggestions from IAF pilots and technicians for
design changes that would
ease maintenance most have already been
implemented. Just 12-15
remain for implementing in
the Mark-II. The Tejas programme will
provide the springboard for
the ADA s next project, a more heavily armed and
capable fighter. Even as
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and
Sukhoi, the Russian aerospace
giant, jointly develop the
Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), ADA will go
it alone in developing an
Advanced Medium Combat
Aircraft. The DRDO s R&D chief, Prahlada, has told Business
Standard the AMCA will have
features more advanced than
current fifth-generation
fighters. That means AMCA
will be technologically ahead of the FGFA when it enters
service at the end of this
decade. Asked whether that might be
over-ambitious, Prahlada
retorts, When we had begun the LCA programme, people
asked the same question. They
thought we would not be
able to build a fighter with
composite materials, and with
an unstable aerodynamic configuration. The Tejas has
proved them wrong. Today,
we say we will build a fighter
that is better than Gen-5. And,
the sceptics will be proven
wrong again. As Business Standard reported
earlier, Rs 10,397 crore have
been sanctioned for
developing the Tejas Mark-II
for the IAF; and another Rs
3,650 crore for the naval Tejas, which would operate off
aircraft carriers.
Subramanyam says this total
expenditure of Rs 14,047 crore
would be amortised over 200
Tejas fighters, at about Rs 70 crore per aircraft. This
projected order includes two
squadrons (40 fighters) of LCA
Mark-I that the IAF has
already ordered; an expected
five squadrons (100 fighters) of LCA Mark-II and another
two-three squadrons (40-60
fighters) for the Navy. In
addition, the manufacturing
cost of the IAF Tejas is
projected at Rs 180-200 crore and of the naval version at Rs
190-210 crore.
Bangalore April 04, 2011,
0:22 IST With the Tejas Light Combat
Aircraft (LCA) entering
service with Indian Air Force
squadrons, the designers of
this indigenous fighter have
explained why they believe this will be the world s premier light fighter. The Tejas Mark-II, to be
developed by 2014 and roll off
production lines by 2018, will
perform 40 per cent better
than the current fighter. After
which would come the Advanced Medium Combat
Aircraft, the AMCA, which the
Defence Research and
Development Organisation
(DRDO) says will be a fifth- generation plus fighter, more formidable than anything
flying today. In an exclusive interview
with Business Standard, P
Subramanyam, director of the
Aeronautical Development
Agency (ADA), which is
developing the LCA and the AMCA, responded to IAF
criticism that the Tejas was
not yet a world-class fighter.
He said the Tejas Mark-I, still
being flight-tested, had been
flown to just 85 per cent of its full capability. The Tejas Mark-
II -- in which a more powerful
GE-414 engine will replace the
current GE-404 engine -- would
perform another 15 per cent
better. The Tejas Mark-I will expand its performance envelope to
its full capability by end-2012.
And, a major performance
boost will come from the
Tejas Mark-II s new GE-414 engine, for which we have
signed a $700-million (Rs 3,135
crore) contract to build here in
India. The Mark-II will
outperform the Mark-I by
about 15 per cent in the key aspects of take-off run, rate
of climb, acceleration, and turn
rate. Most of this would come
from the higher thrust of the
GE-414 engine. Another two-
three per cent benefit would come from better
aerodynamics since we will re-engineer the fighter to
accommodate the new engine.
That overall 35-40 per cent
improvement would make
the LCA the world s premier light fighter, says Subramanyam. The Tejas Mark-I is scheduled
to obtain Final Operational
Clearance by end-2012. A
fighter is granted FOC when
ready for combat missions,
with all its weapons and sensors fitted, integrated and
tested. The IAF worries that
the Tejas, already long
delayed, might not obtain its
FOC on schedule. Meanwhile, ADA designers are
working on the Tejas Mark-II,
which Subramanyam says
will fly by 2014, enter
production by 2016, and
obtain FOC by 2018. Besides re-designing the airframe to
accommodate the GE-414
engine, ADA will also grab the
opportunity to upgrade key
electronics, especially the
flight control computer and some avionics, so that the
Mark-II is a cutting-edge
fighter when it enters
service, says the ADA chief. No fancy plan Brushing aside apprehension
of further delay of the kind
that has dogged the Tejas
programme, Subramanyam
insists, Our design timeline is realistic. The main sub-systems
of the Tejas Mark-II will
remain unchanged, except for
electronics components. So,
the Mark-II will not need
extensive flight-testing, as most of its sub-systems will
have already been test-flown
on the Mark-I. ADA designers also say
maintainability of the Tejas has already been established.
This key attribute relates to
how quickly and easily
technicians can service and
repair the fighter and,
therefore, how quickly it can get out of a hangar and into
combat. Of 200 requests for action suggestions from IAF pilots and technicians for
design changes that would
ease maintenance most have already been
implemented. Just 12-15
remain for implementing in
the Mark-II. The Tejas programme will
provide the springboard for
the ADA s next project, a more heavily armed and
capable fighter. Even as
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and
Sukhoi, the Russian aerospace
giant, jointly develop the
Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), ADA will go
it alone in developing an
Advanced Medium Combat
Aircraft. The DRDO s R&D chief, Prahlada, has told Business
Standard the AMCA will have
features more advanced than
current fifth-generation
fighters. That means AMCA
will be technologically ahead of the FGFA when it enters
service at the end of this
decade. Asked whether that might be
over-ambitious, Prahlada
retorts, When we had begun the LCA programme, people
asked the same question. They
thought we would not be
able to build a fighter with
composite materials, and with
an unstable aerodynamic configuration. The Tejas has
proved them wrong. Today,
we say we will build a fighter
that is better than Gen-5. And,
the sceptics will be proven
wrong again. As Business Standard reported
earlier, Rs 10,397 crore have
been sanctioned for
developing the Tejas Mark-II
for the IAF; and another Rs
3,650 crore for the naval Tejas, which would operate off
aircraft carriers.
Subramanyam says this total
expenditure of Rs 14,047 crore
would be amortised over 200
Tejas fighters, at about Rs 70 crore per aircraft. This
projected order includes two
squadrons (40 fighters) of LCA
Mark-I that the IAF has
already ordered; an expected
five squadrons (100 fighters) of LCA Mark-II and another
two-three squadrons (40-60
fighters) for the Navy. In
addition, the manufacturing
cost of the IAF Tejas is
projected at Rs 180-200 crore and of the naval version at Rs
190-210 crore.