I may catch some flack for saying this but I'm not even sure the LCA is relevant anymore?
Are the design considerations of the 80's still valid?
We still need a cost effective modern fighter , to replace those mig-21's .
So i guess, yes . Better to have your own 4th gen or 4.5 gen plane , then a foreign made 2nd gen plane.
Is it wise to build a carrier version of a delta wing?
France has done it with the Rafale.
The Sea Griphen and sea typhoon are also in concept phase
After 27 years have the program objectives been met?
well that's kind of a tricky question.
When the LCA program was stared in 1983 ,
1983-DRDO obtained permission to initiate a programme to design and develop a Light Combat Aircraft
1984-Government of India set up Aeronautical Development Agency ADA in 1984 as the nodal agency for managing and developing the LCA.
1985-IAF submits Air Staff Requirements (ASR) for LCA in October This was initiated by the then Air Chief Marshal Idris Hassan Latif.
1986-Government allocates 575 crores for the LCA programme.
Programme to develop an indigenous powerplant (engine) was launched at GTRE.
1987-Project definition commenced in October 1987 with French Dassault Aviation as consultants.
1988-Project definition completed in September 1988.
1989-Government review committee expresses confidence in LCA programme. It was decided that the programme will be carried out in two phases.
The 80's were spent in most administration and pre work for building the plane it self. Most of the infrastructure and facilities and agency's responsible for the plane were being set up.
Actual work only begain in 1988 when the PD was completed.
1990-Design of LCA was finalised as a small delta winged reverse static stability aircraft.
Phase 1 of the development was commenced to create the proof of concept system. Financial problems within India prevented full scale operations from starting.
1993-Full funding started from April 1993 full-scale development work for phase 1 started in June.
1995-First technology demonstrator, TD-1, rolled out on 17 November 1995 and was followed by TD-2 in 1998. However, technical problems in flight control systems and structural deficiencies plagued the prototypes and they remained grounded.
1997-Multi-Mode Radar (MMR) for LCA design work started at HALs Hyderabad division and the LRDE.
Now considering that, the original goal o the project was to build a Light combat aircraft. well , we built it mostly.
It does everything an LCA is supposed to do.
And its brought up India defence sector from developing no fighter aircraft to develop , a multirole 4th/4.5 generation aircraft.
That expertise and technology stays in the country for further use .
As of now , we get a 4th gen Multi role platform for 25 million a piece.
by 2015 , we shoud get a 4.5 gen Multi role platform for a little over 25 million.
And carrier 4.5 gen aircraft for a little over 30 million.
and this may be late, but many nations still buy their aircraft from others. Now our armed forces justly has an in house option.
Right now the IAF is short on planes, Its force levels have decilned , Had India had the Tejas , that would have never happened.
It's not capable enough to replace our entire air-force , But it can replace a lot of older planes , and it will guarantee India , that its force levels can be maintained with number's of capable aircraft.
You could argue spin offs
They are just an added bonus not the main dish.
but aren't the subsystems built for the LCA nearing obsolescence?
What kind of sub-systems are we talking about ?
one of the main reasons for the delay was the problem of creeping requirements.
And since the Tejas is an in house production , it will have in house upgrades for those sub-systems. So the problem of obsolescence in sub-systems is really dependent on how much the current requirements ask for and how much support the aircraft will get after induction
I will agree the airframe , s somewhat obsolete, lacking today's RCS reduction features .
but as 4.5 gen plane , with enough upgrades , it can give a good 30 years.
But one thing people do tend to forget is , all the developmental work for the Tejas was done in the 90's . The aircraft's design it self was finalised only in 1991. despite the program it self being initiated in 80's.
Many nations even today still induct planes of 20th century design with with 21st century upgrades. Why does the Tejas have to be any different.
Don't want to draw technological comparison's but the F-16 and F-15 are still going strong after many years , due to continual upgrades.
It amazes me that Indian's expect a government run organization to produce a world best fighter, had the LCA contract been awarded to a private firm you would have likely had a really good plane deployed in the late 90's.
in the 80's and 90's there was no private sector to speak of.