LCA shares in common feautures with the French Mirage-2000 is that both are delta winged single engined multirole aircrafts. Nothing more or nothing less than that. Mirage is a super fighterjet ofcourse.
Here is a comparative side by side showing the totally independent designs of the LCA and the Mirage (the image is not to scale).
the RCS of the LCA is 1/3 rd that of the Mirage !!!
India sought a tie up with French Snecma for the development of Kaveri Engine. They supplied a new core to the Engine.
During 1964- 1977 India attempted to build a supersonic fighter : HAL HF-24 Marut Mk 1T [D1695]) MARUT
Development of the Marut: (the HF-24, designed by the great German WWII Designer Kurt Tank). HF-24 was to use engines with more power. Some European manufacturers were not willing to supply matching engines to India for Marut HF-24. .
A prototype was built(1961). HF24 Marut have close resemblance with French Mirage.
Infact the LCA when inducted should be given a HF-xx designation, following the naming pattern (HF standing for Hindusthan Fighter). Infact the phrase LCA is equivalent to "ATF" of the F-22 programme...and Tejas is equivalent to the Phrase "raptor" or "maruth" of the F-22 and HF-24's. In most probability the LCA will be called the HF-84 Tejas.
Some History during 1970-1971 (IAF- PAF)
During Indo-Pakistan war 1971, IAF was using Folland Gnats (British - smallest fighter jet of 1970's ) against PAF.
The PAF's mainstay was the F-86F Sabre. The F-86F Sabre (sometimes called the Sabrejet). Sabrejets were a larger aircrafts when compared to IAF Gnats . In the intial stages of the war PAF scored some victories but in later stages of war, we witnessed a large number of PAF Sabrejets were shot down. News of the incident and the famous gun camera shots were splashed across /hit newspaper headlines the world over like lightning and the tiny Gnat acquired a reputation of being the Sabre killer. By the end of 1971, the Gnat proved to be a frustrating opponent for the technically superior Sabres and had lived up to its Indian Air Force nickname of "Sabre Slayers" since all its combat "kills" during the two wars were against Sabres. The success of the indigenously produced Gnats against the more sophisticated Pakistani-flown aircrafts were viewed as a significant achievement. Details of IAF 1971 operations can be viewed if you click on the links below.
An analysis: Sabrejet (PAF) was a successfull fighter jet during Korean war. Sabrejet was a fighter /bomber. These qualities contributed adding extra weight to the aircraft which subsequently affected Thrust to weight ratio. Sabrejet Engines could not develop/provide the required thrust for Indian battle front and to counter Folland Gnat's quick maneuverability. Folland Gnats were very hard to spot at low levels. The war scenarios in Korean & Indian sub-continents were entirely different. Can you imagine the size & maneuverability of a motor cycle with a large Cargo Trailer Truck? Sabrejet was little bit difficult to maneuver due to it's larger size, cannons & bomb load/weight.
Armament
(F-86F Sabre)
· 5,300 lb (2,400 kg) of payload on four external hardpoints,
· 2 × 200
gallonsdrop tanks to give the Sabre a useful range. A wide variety of bombs can be carried
· 2 × 1,000 lb bombs plus two drop tanks), napalm bomb /tactical nuclear weapon.
Armament
(Gnat)
2x 30mm ADEN cannons
2x 500 lb (227 kg) bombs or 18x 3 in (76 mm) rockets
Because of these key factors, maneuverability Sabrejet (PAF) decreased to a greater extend as per British experts/ Russian Military Review Magazine of 1985's. Gnat was only a Fighter jet with reduced bomb loads, easy to maneuver can be used like a motor bike. The Battle fields will never accept mistakes either technological or pilot errors. PAF was inactive during naval attack of Karachi harbour by Indian Navy (IN).
The IAF Pilots rated the Mirage-III as the best PAF fighter & were afraid to confront. To their (IAF) surprise, they were not used
in 1971 war !!.
IAF Mig-21 fighter jets performance was also superior/decisive in the battle. It was the only IAF Fighter jet could catch up with PAF Mirages. This experience with small fighter jets made India to go for designing LCA Tejas.
History will repeat again ?? Wait & see !! "This is not pull ...mua. ha"
