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Tejas may skip operational clearance deadline

Ravi Sharma

BANGALORE: Worried over the pace of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas programme, the Indian Air Force has suggested that the deadline for the fighter’s initial operational clearance (IOC) be postponed.

According to the latest schedules, the IOC is December 2010. But with a number of issues dogging the design and development of the fighter, the postponement was suggested during last week’s ‘monthly review meeting.’ Senior officials from the designers, the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the IAF (including the newly appointed Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal N.V. Tyagi) and the manufacturer, Hindustan Aeronautics, were present.

Highly placed sources told The Hindu that the software integration of crucial equipment like the Israeli-built multimode radar (MMR) with the aircraft was yet to be completed. The lack of a radar meant that crucial points on the flight envelope were yet to be tested.

The ADA has still not provided HAL with the digital flight control computer and air data computers which have to be integrated into the LCA programme’s Limited Series Production 3 (LSP3) aircraft.

The new LSP3, which was scheduled to make its first flight in June 2008, is now expected to do so only in September.

Both the IAF and the ADA have bemoaned the low sortie generation by HAL. Just 11 sorties were undertaken in April, 24 in May and 23 in June. Officials claim that a minimum run rate of 30 sorties a month is required to meet the present IOC deadline. With this in mind, a plan to prepare two aircraft for flying in the forenoon and one in the afternoon was worked out. But this has not fructified.

HAL officials, however, deny that sortie generation is the primary reason behind the delays. “With two aircraft withdrawn from the flight test programme, we have just five aircraft to generate sorties,” said an official.

“And even the available aircraft are not fully fitted to undertake the flights that are required. We have even painted LSP3 in its new colour [grey] and are ready. LSP4 will have its ground run before the end of July and the fuselages for LSP5 and LSP6 are ready. On six occasions in June while the aircraft was prepared and the weather good, there were no pilots.”

Officials said the IAF was aware of the shortage of test pilots at the National Flight Test Centre (the LCA is flown exclusively by these pilots) and was looking to increase their number.
Here
 
"On six occasions in June while the aircraft was prepared and the weather good, there were no pilots.”:crazy:

:chilli::chilli:
 
Jul 16, 2009

By Neelam Mathews

NEW DELHI — The long-awaited request for proposals (RFP) to provide 99-125 engines for the Indian Air Force’s Tejas Light Combat Aircraft is expected to be released this week.

Proposals for the two candidate engines — GE’s F414 and Eurojet’s EJ200 — will be due by Oct. 12 if the RFP is released on July 17.

In October 2007, Eurojet signed a nondisclosure agreement with the Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), which is developing the LCA and evaluating alternatives to the GE F404 engine powering the Tejas prototypes and initial production aircraft.

A senior official of Eurojet says it will transfer data under the agreement to India’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), which is responsible for developing the indigenous Kaveri engine planned for the LCA.

“We have interest in doing more with GTRE. However, we shall wait for milestones to be reached,” an official says. “Once you have a ticket to ride….synergies [with other projects] are quite natural, though the customer might think different.”

With severe delays to the Kaveri program and performance limitations with the initial LCA, the Indian air force is keen to push ahead with an off-the-shelf engine acquisition. Former air force chief Fali Homi Major said early this year: “We need five squadrons of the Mk2 LCAs. When integrated with the new engines, the LCA Mk2 should fly in 2013.”

The GE414 powers the Boeing F/A-18E/F and Saab Gripen NG, while the EJ200 powers the Eurofighter Typhoon. All three aircraft are contenders in India’s 126-aircraft multirole fighter competition now under way.

“Our engine needs minimum changes and will not delay the LCA,” the Eurojet official said.

F414 Photo: Volvo
View attachment 3977
 

Published: July 20, 2009 at 12:51 PM
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HALLBERGMOOS, Netherlands, July 20 (UPI) -- Eurojet Turbo has been requested to propose an engine alternative to power the Indian light combat aircraft.

European military engine consortium Eurojet has conducted a joint comprehensive feasibility study with the Indian Aeronautical Development Agency.

Following the study Eurojet announced it has been requested to submit a proposal offering its EJ200 engine for potential integration with the Indian light combat aircraft.

The development of the EJ200 engine technology, designed to power the Eurofighter Typhoon multi-role combat aircraft, is managed by Eurojet, which includes Avio, ITP, MTU Aero Engines and Rolls-Royce shareholders.

According to a news release, Eurojet is "now working on the response and will submit it to the Indian Aeronautical Development Agency within 12 weeks."
 
GE Aviation's F414 Engines for HAL Tejas Fighters?

LineMint reports that the Aeronautical Development Agency has sent proposal requests to GE Aviation for its state-of-the-art F414 military aviation engines to propel the HAL Tejas light combat fighter jet.

The F414-GE-400 is the U.S. Navy's newest and most advanced technology production fighter engine. It incorporates advanced technology with the proven design base of its F404 predecessor to provide the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet with a durable, reliable and easy to maintain engine.

The engine entered production in late 1998 after a highly successful Engineering and Manufacturing Development program that was completed on time and on budget. F/A-18E/F Super Hornet production deliveries to the U.S. Navy are in process and are planned to continue through 2012. The F414-GE-400 has been highly reliable during initial field service.

ADA will also evaluate EJ2000 engine promoted by the Europe based Eurojet consortium.

GE Aviation's F414 Engines for HAL Tejas Fighters? | India Defence
 
India seeks bids from GE and Eurojet to supply engine for Tejas

Aeronautical Development Agency director P.S. Subramanyam said the delay in the indigenous engine availability is what has driven us to go for an alternative engineK. Raghu

India has sought bids from General Electric Co. and Eurojet Turbo GmbH to supply an engine for Tejas, the country’s first light combat aircraft, after an almost two-decade effort to develop a local version failed to deliver a sufficiently powerful engine.

The Aeronautical Development Agency, or ADA, the jet’s designer, will evaluate the EJ200 engine built by Eurojet, a consortium that includes Rolls-Royce Group Plc., and General Electric’s GE 414 for the Mark II version of Tejas. The EJ200 is fitted in the Eurofighter and the GE 414 in Boeing Co.’s F-18 jets.

“The delay in the indigenous engine availability is what has driven us to go for an alternative engine,” said P.S. Subramanyam, director at ADA, the fighter development wing of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, or DRDO. “Probably, in another six months, we will complete all the proceedings (for the new engine).”
Tejas is a tailless single-engine supersonic fighter with delta wings—shaped like a triangle—which uses fly-by-wire technology that enables pilots to control the plane electronically through on-board computers.

The plane is undergoing development trials with a GE 404 engine, but this falls short of the thrust it requires in operational conditions.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has so far placed orders with state-owned plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for 28 Tejas jets powered by the GE 404 engines, and has committed to buying 140 more of these planes, comprising seven squadrons, with higher powered engines.

The tender stipulates transferring at least 60% of the engine technology to HAL to produce the engines locally, said Hubertus von Schoenfeldt, spokesman for Eurojet in India. “We are willing to give more than 60% of the technology...if we become partners,” he added.

New attempt: P.S. Subramanyam of ADA, which designed Tejas. Hemant Mishra / MintGE did not respond to an email sent on Friday.
India’s Gas Turbine and Research Establishment, or GTRE, a DRDO unit in Bangalore, has been working on an indigenous engine, named Kaveri, for the Tejas for nearly two decades but it fell short of the thrust required for flying.

GTRE now plans to partner with France’s Snecma SA to develop a high-powered engine and is awaiting approval from the Union government. The Indian Air Force, Tejas’ main customer, had resisted the proposal on grounds that it would the delay induction of the plane and suggested an alternative engine supplier be tapped. “Now the engine development is not linked with the progress of Tejas,” a DRDO spokesman said. He didn’t want to be named.

India began building a home-grown engine for Tejas after HF-Marut, the country’s first indigenously built supersonic jet, flopped in the 1960s because it could not get a suitable engine.
A few companies such as GE, Snecma and Russia’s NPO Saturn make engines for fighter jets, but they seldom share the technology, which typically changes every two years.

GTRE will continue developing an engine for fighter planes but it has to play catch-up and master the technology by overcoming snags.
“With the delay in development of Kaveri, it is a correct decision to go for a tested and proven engine,” said A.K. Saxena, managing director of Navv Avia Technologies, an aviation consultancy firm.
Tejas, which in Sanskrit means radiance, first flew in January 2001. Since then, test pilots have flown nearly 1,150 sorties on seven Tejas jets. The aircraft needs to complete 400 more flights by 2010 for an initial operational clearance (IOC), the minimum standard set for the plane, said Subramanyam.

“Tejas is approaching IOC. It is (the) right time for (taking a) final call on the engine,” said Saxena, a former managing director of HAL’s Bangalore complex, where Tejas is being produced.

ADA is also designing a naval version and a twin-seater trainer version of Tejas, said Subramanyam. “The (Tejas) programme has a very good (defined) road map—up to 2018. Funds are coming,” he said.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::
 
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EUROJET Offers it’s EJ200 Engine for the Tejas, LCA Indian Light Combat Aircraft

EUROJET Turbo GmbH is the leading European military aero-engine consortium responsible for the management of the development, production, maintenance, support and sales of the new generation EJ200 engine.

Eurojet Turbo GmbH, said it has received a Request for Proposal (RFP) from the Indian Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), to offer its EJ200 engine as a potential alternative power source for the Tejas, the country’s first Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme.

American GE, with its F-414 and Eurojet’s EJ200 are in the race to power the Indian LCA fighter. Their proposals, in response to the RFP, will be due by October.

Tejas is a tailless single-engine supersonic fighter with delta wings—shaped like a triangle—which uses fly-by-wire technology that enables pilots to control the plane electronically through on-board computers.

According to a news release, Eurojet is “now working on the response and will submit it to the Indian Aeronautical Development Agency within 12 weeks.”

India’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) was developing the Kaveri engine to power the LCA. Trying to integrate nearly 16,000 parts and subsystems became too complicated and in 2005, the Kaveri engine caught fire when it was first tested on board a Tupolev-16 aircraft in Russia.

The shareholders of EUROJET are Avio (Italy), ITP (Spain), MTU Aero Engines (Germany) and Rolls-Royce (UK).

The EJ200 engine is Europe’s next generation, advanced military turbofan engine. It has been designed to fulfill the most demanding requirements of the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The EJ200 is a two-spool turbo fan with a modular design, supporting the most stringent maintainability requirements.
 
well i personally do not think so...if there were any assistance from russians...india could have made a 4.5 gen fighter by now...with all these deals around 40 billion that india proposes to spend on defense it was not a very big task.....however it is indians who want to go a hard way....so let it be....anyway we french are also there.....after all we have Rafale..for indians :)
 
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