Dear Mr. Spitfighter, I kindly please request that you do not make such blanket statements about Pakistanis gloating. I completely understand the complexity of this project and am personally not gloating. I personally think India has done a fine job developing these technologies inhouse. In the long run they will pay off in terms of cost saving, and more importantly in independence. Take care.
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Hi, I would not call the LCA a failure. It might not be up to the standards right now, but it will be. I think India has done a great job developing a lot of critical technologies in house, and should be proud of this achievement. Yes, it might be underpowered, and miss some specs, but V2 should rectify this. The PAF was lucky in the sense, it simply got China to develop the JF-17 for it. The F414 engine is a powerful engine and will go a long way in increasing the thurst-to-weight ratio of the LCA.
These technologies are very advanced and take time to develop. Look at how delayed the A380 and Dreamliner are, and these are being developed by aerospace giants Airbus and Boeing respectively. Take care.
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Hi, also please recall the JF-17 went through a thorough redesign after the initial prototype flew. It had its wings, tail, front fuselage, and inlets redesigned. These things happen, and one simply cannot stop trying, but rather keep going and learn fromt the past. Look at all the X-wing programs in the 60's the USA had, testing new technologies, a lot of them failed, but the USA learned from them. Take care.