Why Tejas Mk2 (MWF) Will Be Important

[LKJ86]

I expose your double standard.

How?

 

[Kabotar]

The Tejas Mark 2 fighter has been bulked up into medium fighter category


Repeated IAF demands for more capability likely to delay Mark 2, which is set to be a very different fighter

By Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 30th March 19

Tejas’ changing goalposts


Tejas Mark 1
Tejas Mk 2 (PDR-2014)
Tejas Mark 2 (2017)
Tejas Mark 2 (MWF-2018)





Engine
GE F-404
GE F-414
GE F-414
GE F-414
Length
--
500 mm longer
1000 mm longer
1,350 mm longer
All-Up Weight
13.5 tonnes
15 tonnes
16.5 tonnes
17.5 tonnes
Payload
3.5 tonnes
4.5 tonnes
5.5 tonnes
6.5 tonnes
Internal fuel
2,486 kg
2,672 kg
3,300 kg
3,300 kg


The Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA), which was developed to replace the MiG-21/MiG-27 light fighters in the Indian Air Force (IAF), will not remain a light fighter much longer.

Numerous additional capabilities demanded by the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the Tejas Mark 2, which is still on the drawing board, will increase the weight of the 14.5 tonne aircraft by three tonnes, into the 17.5 tonne medium fighter class.

“We now call the Tejas Mark 2 a medium weight fighter, or MWF”, said a senior Tejas designer in a classified briefing in New Delhi on Friday, which Business Standard attended.

Consequently, the Tejas Mark 2 is now being billed by the IAF as a replacement for the Mirage 2000 medium fighter, rather than the lightweight MiGs that are retiring soon.

Changes in defence equipment specifications demanded by the buyers – the army, navy and IAF – are partly responsible for endemic delays in developing indigenous weaponry. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has cited the IAF’s repeated changes in Tejas Mark 1 specifications as a reason for production delays.

However, this is probably the first time that user-driven changes are driving a weapons platform into an altogether different category.

The briefing explained that the transformation of the Tejas from a light to a medium fighter has taken place incrementally over the preceding decade. In 2009, the Tejas Mark 2 was sanctioned as a “re-engined” version of the Tejas Mark 1, with the current General Electric F-404IN engine replaced by a GE F-414 engine with higher thrust.

During the three years it took to buy the F-414 engine, the IAF kept demanding additional systems and improvements in the existing ones. By 2014, when the Tejas Mark 2’s preliminary design review (PDR) was conducted, the aircraft fuselage design was stretched by half a metre and it became one-and-a-half tonnes heavier. Compared to the 3.5 tonnes of payload (mainly weapons and external fuel) envisioned in the initial design, the Tejas Mark 2 was now to carry 4.5 tonnes – one tonne more.

Meanwhile, the IAF and HAL conceived an interim fighter called the Tejas Mark 1A, with additional capabilities like an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and an advanced electronic warfare suite. By 2017, the IAF demanded all those capabilities and more in the Mark 2.

The 2017 Tejas Mark 2, therefore, became a full metre longer. With an all-up weight of 16.5 tonnes and a payload of 5.5 tonnes, it was already pushing the medium fighter border. The IAF also demanded that it carry 3.3 tonnes of internal fuel, almost a tonne more than what was envisaged in 2009.

Last year, the Tejas Mark 2 transitioned fully from an LCA to a “medium weight fighter” (MWF). It will now be 1.35 metres longer and significantly broader than the original Mark 2, and will carry 6.5 tonnes of payload – more than double the original plan.

“The Tejas Mark 2 MWF is now required to have greater range and endurance. It will have 11 weapons stations, compared to the earlier seven stations and will carry weapons like the SCALP missile, and the Crystal Maze and SPICE-2000 guided bombs”, said the Tejas designer.

An aviation analyst, speaking off the record, says these ambitious specifications would almost certainly delay the Tejas Mark 2 significantly, since the designers must effectively create a brand new aircraft by the target date of 2025.

“The IAF has steadily moved the goalposts for the Tejas. This is only the latest example”, says the analyst.


http://ajaishukla.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-tejas-mark-2-fighter-has-been.html

The Tejas Mark 2 fighter has been bulked up into medium fighter category


Repeated IAF demands for more capability likely to delay Mark 2, which is set to be a very different fighter

By Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 30th March 19

Tejas’ changing goalposts


Tejas Mark 1
Tejas Mk 2 (PDR-2014)
Tejas Mark 2 (2017)
Tejas Mark 2 (MWF-2018)





Engine
GE F-404
GE F-414
GE F-414
GE F-414
Length
--
500 mm longer
1000 mm longer
1,350 mm longer
All-Up Weight
13.5 tonnes
15 tonnes
16.5 tonnes
17.5 tonnes
Payload
3.5 tonnes
4.5 tonnes
5.5 tonnes
6.5 tonnes
Internal fuel
2,486 kg
2,672 kg
3,300 kg
3,300 kg


The Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA), which was developed to replace the MiG-21/MiG-27 light fighters in the Indian Air Force (IAF), will not remain a light fighter much longer.

Numerous additional capabilities demanded by the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the Tejas Mark 2, which is still on the drawing board, will increase the weight of the 14.5 tonne aircraft by three tonnes, into the 17.5 tonne medium fighter class.

“We now call the Tejas Mark 2 a medium weight fighter, or MWF”, said a senior Tejas designer in a classified briefing in New Delhi on Friday, which Business Standard attended.

Consequently, the Tejas Mark 2 is now being billed by the IAF as a replacement for the Mirage 2000 medium fighter, rather than the lightweight MiGs that are retiring soon.

Changes in defence equipment specifications demanded by the buyers – the army, navy and IAF – are partly responsible for endemic delays in developing indigenous weaponry. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has cited the IAF’s repeated changes in Tejas Mark 1 specifications as a reason for production delays.

However, this is probably the first time that user-driven changes are driving a weapons platform into an altogether different category.

The briefing explained that the transformation of the Tejas from a light to a medium fighter has taken place incrementally over the preceding decade. In 2009, the Tejas Mark 2 was sanctioned as a “re-engined” version of the Tejas Mark 1, with the current General Electric F-404IN engine replaced by a GE F-414 engine with higher thrust.

During the three years it took to buy the F-414 engine, the IAF kept demanding additional systems and improvements in the existing ones. By 2014, when the Tejas Mark 2’s preliminary design review (PDR) was conducted, the aircraft fuselage design was stretched by half a metre and it became one-and-a-half tonnes heavier. Compared to the 3.5 tonnes of payload (mainly weapons and external fuel) envisioned in the initial design, the Tejas Mark 2 was now to carry 4.5 tonnes – one tonne more.

Meanwhile, the IAF and HAL conceived an interim fighter called the Tejas Mark 1A, with additional capabilities like an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and an advanced electronic warfare suite. By 2017, the IAF demanded all those capabilities and more in the Mark 2.

The 2017 Tejas Mark 2, therefore, became a full metre longer. With an all-up weight of 16.5 tonnes and a payload of 5.5 tonnes, it was already pushing the medium fighter border. The IAF also demanded that it carry 3.3 tonnes of internal fuel, almost a tonne more than what was envisaged in 2009.

Last year, the Tejas Mark 2 transitioned fully from an LCA to a “medium weight fighter” (MWF). It will now be 1.35 metres longer and significantly broader than the original Mark 2, and will carry 6.5 tonnes of payload – more than double the original plan.

“The Tejas Mark 2 MWF is now required to have greater range and endurance. It will have 11 weapons stations, compared to the earlier seven stations and will carry weapons like the SCALP missile, and the Crystal Maze and SPICE-2000 guided bombs”, said the Tejas designer.

An aviation analyst, speaking off the record, says these ambitious specifications would almost certainly delay the Tejas Mark 2 significantly, since the designers must effectively create a brand new aircraft by the target date of 2025.

“The IAF has steadily moved the goalposts for the Tejas. This is only the latest example”, says the analyst.


http://ajaishukla.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-tejas-mark-2-fighter-has-been.html

Long story short IAF will kill Tejas mk2 just like it killed mk1.

 

[Trango Towers]

after reading the article I am convinced that this fighter has already won!!

Won what?

 

[randomradio]

And PLAAF doesn't have 4.5-generation heavy-weight air-superiority fighters, while J-16 and J-10C are 4.5-generation multirole fighters, and J-20 is still in a small number.

That is why China choose to buy only 24 Su-35s.

Dunno why you brought that up though.

Coming to the Su-35 story, there's talk that more Su-35s will be bought by China.

 

[LKJ86]

Dunno why you brought that up though.

Coming to the Su-35 story, there's talk that more Su-35s will be bought by China.

I am talking that PLAAF doesn't have 4.5th-generation heavy-weight air-superiority fighters like Su-35.
That is why Su-35s are bought.

Do you think China will buy Su-30 after having J-16?
Or do you think China will buy Mig-35 after having J-10C?

 

[Path-Finder]

Won what?

the fighter in that article has already won without even making a flight. That's how much cow manure the author has used for the daish Bakth CowKiDar crowd. they just need to throw copies of this articles printed on paper and that's enough for victory!

 

[randomradio]

I am talking that PLAAF doesn't have 4.5th-generation heavy-weight air-superiority fighters like Su-35.
That is why Su-35s are bought.

Do you think China will buy Su-30 after having J-16?
Or do you think China will buy Mig-35 after having J-10C?

At the low end you can make do with anything. But at the high end you need the best. Particularly when the sole purpose is to combat other fighter jets. If your primary air superiority aircraft fails, then your entire air force fails.

Personally I think, with the Su-35s, there could be a very different motive to buy just 24 jets.

 

[rajiv sharma]

Honestly are you so blinded by patriotism that you believe this claim?

Let me ask you some simple question. How did they know they were looking at J-20? How did they know the J-20 didn't have a RCS increasing lens which it always shown flying with? If they can see J-20 which is PLAAF's best with only old non-AESA radar, why did they tell everyone? It seems like this is a big lie made to fool patriotic Indians because the above three main questions cannot be answered. If they have that ability, why buy Rafale? Why rush introduction of AESA and better radar if old radar can defeat best of PLAAF? Why is PLAAF ordering J-20s as fast as CAC can produce them if even IAF's old technology can easily see it? Why did they bother telling China and reveal its ability? Truth is more likely that Indians WANT to believe this but it is very far from reality.

Uttam radar isn't even in service yet but you already making big claims. This is such an Indian attitude. Celebrating before anything even happened. Uttam will by Indian accounts take another 3 years at least to become full service onboard Tejas MK1a or MK2 forwards. Chinese has AESA type technology for three generations on land, SAM, surface vessels, and fighters now. J-10C, J-11D (failed demonstrator to replace J11B), J-15, J-16, J-20. Each has had upgrades received. JF-17 has two different types proposed by two different radar manufacturers. Yet Indians want to say with confidence their not even ready Uttam can easily defeat all of PLAAF fighters and outrange all PLAAF AESA radars which they don't even know about. They just assume they are shit and India is best. Good luck with that type of attitude, you will not even come close to winning.

your narration does not have any substance , can be found in every forum the futile points you raised .

 

[Khanivore]

India's sukhois detected J20 even without AESA. So no big deal to detect them with top class AESA.

Really? What happened to your Su-30MKIs on Feb 27? Saw PAF fighters and ran away.

 

[Surya 1]

Really? What happened to your Su-30MKIs on Feb 27? Saw PAF fighters and ran away.

It proved that AMRAM are useless against su 30. Before Su 30 shutdown f 16 , mig 21 did it.

 

[LKJ86]

At the low end you can make do with anything. But at the high end you need the best. Particularly when the sole purpose is to combat other fighter jets. If your primary air superiority aircraft fails, then your entire air force fails.

Personally I think, with the Su-35s, there could be a very different motive to buy just 24 jets.

In fact, Su-35 doesn't belong to the high end in PLAAF.

Su-35 is just like a muscular young man, but with myopic eyes and little arms.

 

[Surya 1]

In fact, Su-35 doesn't belong to the high end in PLAAF.

Yet you have to bag it from Russia.

 

[LKJ86]

Yet you have to bag it from Russia.

LOL, Russia can choose to not sell Su-35.

But it means nothing.

 

[Surya 1]

LOL, Russia can choose to not sell Su-35.

But it means nothing.

The question is not weather Russia will sell it or not. The question is why you have to beg for a 4th generation plane when you claims that you have developed two 5th generation planes.

 

[LKJ86]

The question is not weather Russia will sell it or not. The question is why you have to beg for a 4th generation plane when you claims that you have developed two 5th generation planes.

No no no, China is not India. China doesn't need to beg for Su-35, and Russia is willing to sell Su-35 to China, and will get more orders from other countries.