Worth waiting for 6 weeks Well done HAL, ADE, DRDO, IAF!!!

Flight test update summary

Meanwhile in the last 5weeks LCA has notchedup 37 testflights ~ one per day.. Not bad at all..
But it is not so good because only 3 of the 5 airframes (assuming TD1 & TD2 grounded) are flying.. PV2 & LSP1 have not flown at all in the last 5weeks - hopefully something good is going on with them in the hangar.

In the last 5weeks -- PV1 undertook ONLY 4 sorties, PV3 -18 & LSP2 - 15.

Interestingly PV3 has been spending the last week or so in Jamnagar... I think some weapon drops are going on -- hopefully some LGB's are getting wasted..

topgun Su30MKI pilot flying the LCA

- The trials entailed flight envelope expansion in various stores configurations, as well as air-to-ground weapon delivery trials in different modes of weapon delivery.

Air to ground munition tests can still be done without a functioning radar. Whereas for the majority of A2A tests youll need a functioning radar.

- "After this phase, the Tejas will be able to take on targets whose parameters in terms of location and altitude are fed to the on-board navigation and attack computer. The target does not even have to be visible to the pilot at the point of delivery."

What i understood from the above paragraph is that after the jamnagar tests are done tejas will be able to do the abve stated things.
On a different note i dont think ive yet seen a LCA pic with litening pod. Now that would be an awesome sight for a jingo's eyes.
Also cant wait for the gun tests.

According to a DRDO statement, "The aircraft has successfully demonstrated its ability to tackle targets which are designated visually by the pilot. After this phase, the Tejas will be able to take on targets whose parameters in terms of location and altitude are fed to the on-board navigation and attack computer. The target does not even have to be visible to the pilot at the point of delivery."

Tejas completes test flight in Saurashtra region

The Indian Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), ‘Tejas’ continued its quest for achieving Initial Operational Capability (IOC) by the end of 2010. To achieve this goal, a pair of Tejas single seat fighters supported by a multi-disciplinary trial team, operated from an Indian Air Force airbase in the South Western Air Command area of responsibility for five weeks.

The prototype of the Light Combat Aircraft `Tejas’ at an Air Force base under the Western Air Command.

This was the first time that the Tejas aircraft have operated away from home base of Bangalore for so long.

Two prototypes took part in the trials, the Prototype Vehicle-3 (PV3) and Limited Series Production-2 (LSP-2). The trials entailed flight envelope expansion in various configurations, as well as Air to Ground weapon delivery trials in different modes of weapon delivery.

The aircraft successfully demonstrated its ability to tackle targets which are designated visually by the pilot. After this phase, the Tejas will be able to take on targets whose parameters in terms of location and altitude are fed to the on-board navigation and attack computer. The target does not even have to be visible to the pilot at the point of delivery, according to the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO).

The flight trials were conducted by the flight test crew of the National Flight Test Centre (NFTC), who deployed test pilots, flight test engineers and instrumentation specialists for the task.

The support provided by the personnel of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)- the manufacturers of the aircraft, ensured that this indigenous fighter aircraft was able to take to the skies regularly, said DRDO.

The Tejas team included specialist groups from Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Central for Military Air Worthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) and DG-AQA.

The Indian Air Force teams working at ADA and the Air Force base where the trials were conducted have contributed significantly for the success of the trial.

With this milestone achieved, the entire Tejas team is upbeat and the Tejas is one step closer to induction into the Indian Air Force, the DRDO said in a note.

IAF Conducts Multi-Disciplinary Trial of LCA

Moving closer to achieving Initial Operational Capability configuration for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) by end of 2010, the Air Force conducted five-week multi-disciplinary trials of a pair of indigenous fighters at its Jamnagar air base.

"The trials entailed flight envelope expansion in various stores configurations, as well as air-to-ground weapon delivery trials in different modes of weapon delivery," a DRDO official said here today.

The LCA successfully demonstrated its ability to tackle targets designated visually by the pilot, officials added.

After this phase, officials said that the LCA will be enabled by its on-board navigation and attack computers to take on targets, which are not visible to the pilot.

The five-week trials were conducted by the flight test crew of the National Flight Test Centre (NFTC) including their test pilots, flight test engineers and instrumentation specialists.

"This was the first time that the Tejas aircraft have operated away from home base for so long," officials said.

LCA is expected to be inducted into the IAF in initial operational capability (IOC) by December 2010. Last year, Defence Minister A K Antony had said that the IAF will induct around seven squadrons of the aircraft in its fleet.

Developing the aircraft since 1982, the DRDO is expected to hand over the first squadron of the LCA in the IOC configuration to the IAF by 2010-end.

A total of seven LCA squadrons will be inducted in the IAF. The first two squadrons will be in the IOC configuration whereas the rest five will be the LCA Mark II, which will be an upgraded version of the aircraft.

The first two squadrons will be equipped with the GE-404 engines and the remaining five will have either the GE-414 or the Eurojet 200 engines. DRDO is also in talks with various aircraft manufacturers to help it in expanding the flight envelope of the aircraft.

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT RADAR the first 40 LCA MARK 1 WILL HAVE? will it be el/m-2032 or mmr with el/m-2052 aesa front end

On a different note i dont think ive yet seen a LCA pic with litening pod. Now that would be an awesome sight for a jingo's eyes.
Also cant wait for the gun tests.

LCA = "Gripen fighter when the CD all the time depends on the performance of the radar if you have AESA (Active Phased Array Radar) LCA can be shot down SU30MKI, but we can say he was stronger than the MKI do? Can not be! The outcome depends on the aircraft, air the entire system performance.

However, LCA's internal equipment is a challenge. However, imports of LCA is very suitable for the radar, receiving systems, intelligence gathering and early warning aircraft systems and coordination. If it is not subject to payload restrictions, he could become multi-purpose fighter.

We all know that LCA's radar reflector surface and the French Rafale, the European Typhoon, Swedish Gripen is small compared to big? Although I know that may belong to a secret, but I really want to know.
CA can be sure that the reflection cross-section is very low, thanks to his appearance, as well as 45% of the amount of composite materials. 而且LCA。 And the LCA air intakes were also low to detect design. I want to reflect size should be smaller than Sweden's Gripen, considering the dimensions of the case.

http://www.ada.gov.in/others/MoreCurrentNews/morecurrentnews.html
LCA-Tejas has completed 1216 Test Flights successfully. (21-Oct-09).
* LCA has completed 1216 Test Flights successfully
(TD1-233,TD2-305,PV1-224,PV2-128,PV3-173,LSP1-54,LSP2-99).
* 123rd & 124th flight of Tejas PV1 occurred on 20th Oct 09.

Do any Panwalas have information about what percentage of the test cases are complete?

Read an article on a pakistani daily about LCA. Among a lot of gibberish, they were comparing the increase in unit cost of an LCA with that of an MKI (31 mil vs 33 mil a piece)

Does anyone have the exact price of an LCA as of today? What will be the approximate difference between mk-1 and mk-2 (assuming mk-2 comes out 5 years from now)?

Now can we discuss the price of the LCA as of today?

I can't say for sure, but I guess it would be a hybrid radar with air to air modes of mmr while air to ground modes of elta's 2032 radar

I guess, it's Elta 2052 (and not 2032).

The last I read, it was 31 million a piece (As per Reuters).

I guess, it's Elta 2052 (and not 2032).

I guess, it's Elta 2052 (and not 2032).

We will probably see Elta 2052 or Russian Zuke-AE AESA on Tejas MK-2.

after spending big sums on Israel for LCA-MMR [elta], why waste again integrating with Russian Zhuk., when LCA-MMR would be ready to FCR russian missiles as well.

after spending big sums on Israel for LCA-MMR [elta], why waste again integrating with Russian Zhuk., when LCA-MMR would be ready to FCR russian missiles as well.

Asit sir, as far as I know through my readings on BRF the radar that will be integrated first on LCA MK1 for initial opterational clearence will either be a hybrid of our MMR and Elta's 2032, or would entirely be the 2032. Elta's 2052 would in all probability be considered for the MK2 version of the aircraft.

Elta 2052 is AESA radar. Tejas Mk-1 will be using Elta 2032, (so without AESA). We will probably see Elta 2052 or Russian Zuke-AE AESA on Tejas MK-2.

P.S. Subramaniam, Programme Director, Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the defence laboratory that is designing the LCA, told The Hindu that “airworthy units” of the Israeli – manufactured MMR would be arriving here early next week for integration into the aircraft. The Elta designed and developed MMR, Elta EL/M-2052 which will be an interim option since India is developing an indigenous one, has already undergone tests on the flight test bed and ground rig in Israel.

Isn't that 31 million for the NLCA? Even though LCA initially might cost some where between 20-25 million a piece, cost might come down as the production picks up. If only it happens.

Five Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) costing about $31 million each have already been manufactured by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and undergoing trials, while eight more will be ready by mid-2010, defence officials said.

Further an AlGaN or GaN MMICs helps AESA for high amps.. Dileep saab can give more info on this. Also one may wiki arround http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GaN

IIRC some of the basic differentiators between GaAs and GaN based transistors (both having higher operating frequency tapability and similar noise figures) are as follows :

Betw, in lay-man (like me ) terms, what the above means are as follows:

Power Density: Higher power densities allow smaller chips to handle the same amount of power, resulting in more chips per wafer, and hence, lower costs per chip. Also will result in smaller chips.

DC-to-RF Efficiency: Measure how effieciently RF waves are generated i.e. how less heat is genarated in the process of creating RF waves. Thus higher efficiency implies less thermal mgmt headache and there-in weight penalties.

Energy Gap or Band Gap: Higher the value, allows higher temperature operation (thus requiring less cooling) and higher radiation stability. Also higher the value more closer you're to be classifiead as an insulator.

Break down E-Field: Higher value means higher "tolerance" to higher voltage - thus more resistant to breakdown due to high voltage peaks.

be very disappointing year for Tejas program

It seems like Radar integration is taking lot of time LSP3/4 and PV-5 are no where to be seen and we are coming to end of this year ,it will be very disappointing year for Tejas program if this jets couldn't take their first flight has expected

Just one flight test in 10 days.... something serious is going on Calm before storm???

And its supposed to have the IOC next year.