LCA Tejas: News and Discussions

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 23 Feb 2016 07:41

shiv wrote:...

The IAF, which is traditionally measured in its evaluation of the Tejas, says the fighter’s “control harmony is comparable to the best in the world… The intuitive cockpit layout and highly reliable life support systems provide for comfort as well as excellent situational awareness.”

Authoritatively detailing the Tejas’ performance parameters, the IAF says: “The LCA has a very competitive and cotemporary operational envelope. It is capable of operations up to an altitude of 50,000 feet and a maximum speed of 1.6 Mach at [high] altitudes or 730 knots… at low levels. The aircraft [can turn at] +8G to -2.5G (which allows it to U-turn in 350 metres) in operationally clean configuration… or +6G to -2.5G with other external stores.”

The language is too technical for DDMs. Definitely someone who has extensive flying behind him to have commented in this fashion.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 23 Feb 2016 08:35

well, the mk1 configuration is well defined in the 2015 brochure (that came out after 2871 successful flights). there is no mention of mk1-a in it. there is however, mk2 well defined.

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 23 Feb 2016 09:31

Good that we have been hearing about the increased orders. Has IAF actually signed off anything with HAL on these extra numbers?Technically can HAL place orders of sub components or release funds to vendors till IAF signs off and we see these numbers on black and white?

The scaling up of additional mk1/A production lines need every small vendor also to scale up and deliver on time for assembly. If there is any advantage at all in economies of scale, a sensible number should be put in paper NOW with options clause, than give piecemeal orders to small players, who already have smaller working capitals. A GE or cohbam or Israel could probably scale up quickly, but not everybody else.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 23 Feb 2016 14:18

Quality control costs are high at economies of scale if it is not factored in the production engineering setups

member_29350 · Post by **member_29350** » 23 Feb 2016 16:02

rohitvats wrote:Someone pass the tissue please....

here's some smelling salts. I used them, it's effective to recover from swooning.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 23 Feb 2016 17:16

Team HAL upbeat over Tejas’ stupendous success in Bahrain

'Mathrubhumi' visited HAL’s state-of-the-art LCA Tejas Division recently for an interaction with the successful Bahrain team
# Dr Anantha Krishnan M

Bengaluru: One month after creating history at the Bahrain International Air Show (BIAS-2016), an excited team from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) seems to be all set for more challenging missions ahead.

India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas grabbed international headlines after its maiden performance outside Indian skies during the BIAS-2016 held at the Sakhir Air Base in January.

'Mathrubhumi' visited HAL’s state-of-the-art LCA Tejas Division recently for an interaction with the successful Bahrain team. Interestingly, the unassuming General Manager of Tejas Division, V Sridharan, refused to take any credit.

“All credits to my boys. Well, there were some women as well. It was a great team work executed to perfection. First time and we were very careful in every step we took,” says Sridharan.

Young team did the trick of India

According to him, the average age of the team members was around 35 years. “Yes, it was a young team and many of them were travelling out of the country for the first time. To represent India, to get hooked on to the job right from the word go and to come back with flying colours after completing the mission… They have made all of us proud,” says Sridharan.

“We lifted around 70 tonnes of equipment from HAL Airport ahead of the Bahrain show. Out of this 40 tonnes went to Sakhir Air Base, while the remaining 30 to Muscat, our stop-over base. Even we had to establish telemetry stations at Bahrain and Muscat,” says M S Velpari, AGM (Manufacturing & Assembly).

The mandatory customs clearances preceded the mission. A small team was also present at Air Force Station Jamnagar. HAL posted an officer at the DGM level as the team leader in Bahrain and under his command were 30 technicians.

“To turn around two aircraft (LSP-4 & LSP-7) within the stipulated time was a challenge. They were hot-ready as mandated,” adds Velpari.

A C-17 Globemaster of the Indian Air Force lifted the equipment from Bengaluru to Muscat on January 11 and then again on January 13 to Bahrain.

A well-oiled networking mission

According to the HAL, it was a well-oiled mission with multiple teams networking on the move. “The pilots were keen to fly together. The second aircraft took off 10 minutes after the first one was airborne. But, they caught up together and flew together. We were tracking them all the way to Muscat and Bahrain after they left Jamnagar,” says K Ravi, Deputy General Manager, Projects. Indian naval assets kept a close track on both fighters.

HAL Chairman T Suvarna Raju said that Tejas’ participation at BIAS-2016 will be remembered for a long time to come.

Tejas

“We empowered a young team to take on-the-spot decisions. It was evident right from the word go that the team was at it all the time. It wasn’t an easy task and the boys were doing such a mission outside India for the first time. They would have had previous experiences during hot and cold weather trials of Tejas. And, even during Iron Fist. But Bahrain was a huge learning experience for the team,” Raju told 'Mathrubhumi'.

“The Tejas successful outing outside India comes at a time when HAL is celebrating 75 years,” Raju adds.

Parrikar played the most critical role

Interestingly, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar seems to have played the most crucial role by taking a firm stand, which resulted in Tejas kissing the Bahrain skies. It is now clear that there were two different opinions within Defence Research and Development Organisation, which created considerable amount of delay in taking the decision.

“These decisions are taken at the highest levels. With the dates fast approaching and many differing voices being heard, we left the decision to the RM (Parrikar). It was a question of nation’s pride. RM too took some time before he firmly said that Tejas will go. We got on to a war-footing mode and conveyed the RM’s decision to ADA and HAL,” says a Ministry of Defence official who was present in the final meetings.

“The minister not only gave a strong backing to the idea of taking Tejas to Bahrain but ensured that he was kept in the loop if any bottlenecks came up. There were some concerns with the kind of support from the Government of Oman. The best of MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) channels were activated. Stop over at Muscat was very crucial for this mission and we planned that both fighters will spend minimum time there,” the official said.

While Parrikar couldn’t be contacted for any comments, his Scientific Advisor Dr G Satheesh Reddy told Mathrubhumi on Tuesday that the Bahrain performance of Tejas increased the confidence of users.

“The IAF officials are now happy with the platform. Many others too have shown interest. It is now left to HAL to manufacture Tejas in large numbers. I had visited HAL recently and things are looking bright,” says Dr Reddy.

(The writer is an author, blogger and seasoned aerospace and defence journalist in India. His upcoming book ‘Precious Souls’ captures the inspiring lives of special children and their families. He is currently a Content Consultant with Mathrubhumi (English) Online and tweets @writetake.)

Sanju · Post by **Sanju** » 23 Feb 2016 18:09

I think it is time we took the Arjun MBT out for a similar exercise so that we can get approval of the Goras after which everyone will be gushing about Arjun!

nits · Post by **nits** » 23 Feb 2016 18:09

We were tracking them all the way to Muscat and Bahrain after they left Jamnagar,” says K Ravi, Deputy General Manager, Projects. Indian naval assets kept a close track on both fighters.

Interesting... speaks a lot about our capabilities

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Feb 2016 22:29

SaiK, Learning Curve calculators for aerospace, using US standards.

http://fas.org/news/reference/calc/learn.htm

For HAL use 90% or even 95% due to long supply chain.

RonyKJ · Post by **RonyKJ** » 23 Feb 2016 22:37

[quote="shiv"]Team HAL upbeat over Tejas’ stupendous success in Bahrain

'Mathrubhumi' visited HAL’s state-of-the-art LCA Tejas Division recently for an interaction with the successful Bahrain team
# Dr Anantha Krishnan M

[quote]

It is driving me nuts trying to figure out where the starboard wing of the LCA is in that picture.
The aircraft seems to be in the shed and the wing would have to be in between the pillars

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Feb 2016 22:40

shiv, So about 15 technicians /per plane. How many sorties in Bahrain?
or if you count the folks in overalls its only 9. Rest could be engineers and telemetry operators.
works out to 4.5/plane. Very good number.

----
I cringe at romance novel English of Indian media....
'kissing the skies" ugh.
And writer has very high opinion of himself expecting that MP will talk to him about the Tejas flight in Bahrain!!!

PratikDas · Post by **PratikDas** » 24 Feb 2016 03:18

shiv wrote:Team HAL upbeat over Tejas’ stupendous success in Bahrain

'Mathrubhumi' visited HAL’s state-of-the-art LCA Tejas Division recently for an interaction with the successful Bahrain team
# Dr Anantha Krishnan M

While Parrikar couldn’t be contacted for any comments, his Scientific Advisor Dr G Satheesh Reddy told Mathrubhumi on Tuesday that the Bahrain performance of Tejas increased the confidence of users.

“The IAF officials are now happy with the platform. Many others too have shown interest. It is now left to HAL to manufacture Tejas in large numbers. I had visited HAL recently and things are looking bright,” says Dr Reddy.

(The writer is an author, blogger and seasoned aerospace and defence journalist in India. His upcoming book ‘Precious Souls’ captures the inspiring lives of special children and their families. He is currently a Content Consultant with Mathrubhumi (English) Online and tweets @writetake.)

This part in bold is so important now.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 24 Feb 2016 05:05

ronykj, you to have de-port your depth vision comparing with objects near starboard
hint: see the other bunch of afsars

shaun · Post by **shaun** » 24 Feb 2016 06:51

nits wrote:
We were tracking them all the way to Muscat and Bahrain after they left Jamnagar,” says K Ravi, Deputy General Manager, Projects. Indian naval assets kept a close track on both fighters.
Interesting... speaks a lot about our capabilities

Navy P-8i was tracking them .

sum · Post by **sum** » 24 Feb 2016 07:04

Even we had to establish telemetry stations at Bahrain and Muscat

Maybe it was these guys who were doing the tracking?

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 24 Feb 2016 07:42

>>I cringe at romance novel English of Indian media....

Quality is very low in general, especially given the fact that they have sub-editors and editors to back them up. Should pick up gradually I guess. Cliches are the norm. There's no imaginative construction, or very little of it. Guess we should be glad that at least sometimes, some useful facts are put out there.

There some good ones of course.

jayasimha · Post by **jayasimha** » 24 Feb 2016 08:19

Some memories of IFR in Mumbai

ifr1 - Parade - https://goo.gl/photos/2YGxzCLDU478hneUA

IFR2 - Fly Past - https://goo.gl/photos/U4kcmeegPbR5k2Fq5

IFR3- TEJAS - https://goo.gl/photos/wNuvGLTxNVQQ8pADA

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 24 Feb 2016 10:49

I am returning back to Dec 2015 article from shook-law ji

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 004_1.html

check out the number of engines he is coming up for Mk1 and Mk2

Kakarat · Post by **Kakarat** » 24 Feb 2016 16:57

IAF should reform the Thunderbolts aerobatic display team with LCA Tejas. Thunderbolts display team with LCA Tejas can showcase India's Aeronautical capabilities to the world. If just one LCA Tejas at a Airshow can create such good impression then just imagine what a aerobatic team of minimum 3 LCA Tejas can do.

JayS · Post by **JayS** » 24 Feb 2016 18:17

^^ Not a bad idea to promote LCA. We can build lean version of LCA by shedding all non-essential equipments (such as radar and weapon systems), specifically for aerobatics. It will be good deal lighter than the SP version, so more agile and cheaper as well. Only problem is, currently priority is to form the squadrons. Once HAL delivers those jets a thought can be given for this perhaps.

srai · Post by **srai** » 24 Feb 2016 18:19

^^^
LIFT version

JayS · Post by **JayS** » 24 Feb 2016 18:26

Let HAL start the production properly and deliver 1st lot. LCA is sure to appear in many avatars in future.

JTull · Post by **JTull** » 24 Feb 2016 18:37

LCA display team would be good, perhaps a 3 or 5 fighter flight from the first squadron. Without having a large pilot pool who are very comfortable with all aspects of the aircraft such a team will not be possible, so only after squadron formation. Also, the aircraft have a primary task of being useful during war, and with such a shortage of squadrons, I doubt a dedicated display-only squadron will be possible any time soon.

In the meantime, even including single Tejas in every IAF flight display would be very good.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 24 Feb 2016 18:51

kakarat++ yup!

Kakarat · Post by **Kakarat** » 24 Feb 2016 23:45

To start with we should not form a display-only squadron and convert a small part of existing squadron in to the display team. Later we can form a new display-only squadron using the aircrafts of the display team. Initially the team should start by performing simple aerobatics and start developing complicated ones as soon as the pilots become more familiar with the platform. We should not build any stripped down versions of the platform for the display team as the main purpose of the display team is to market the aircraft as a war machine and should be usable during war time.

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 25 Feb 2016 13:01

<Offtopic>

They could have come up with another name ..

Tejas trains to be launched; these will be fast trains running at speed of 130 kmph with world class services

Railway budget

</offtopic>

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 25 Feb 2016 13:09

I welcome use of that name. Name recognition is also critical.

member_27581 · Post by **member_27581** » 25 Feb 2016 13:17

^^ I am afraid if know that tej in tejas is not related to tej as in speed. Not that I mind the name tejas
In fact the photos of Tejas and Dr Kota Harinarayana and his team along with that of Tejas will be even better.

johneeG · Post by **johneeG** » 25 Feb 2016 13:18

Manish_P wrote:<Offtopic>

They could have come up with another name ..

Tejas trains to be launched; these will be fast trains running at speed of 130 kmph with world class services
Railway budget

</offtopic>

Very good idea.

Tejas Trains sounds nice.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 25 Feb 2016 13:55

Tejas is Sanskrit meaning brilliant. Tez/tezi is of Arabic origin and is an Urdu word meaning fast (speed)

jamwal · Post by **jamwal** » 25 Feb 2016 15:10

Radiant actually.

Tej is radiance. Tejas is some one with radiance.

Tez is fast.

member_29355 · Post by **member_29355** » 25 Feb 2016 19:11

Hello guys. Just got enrolled to BR, officially!

member_29355 · Post by **member_29355** » 25 Feb 2016 19:12

Interesting to see Tejas comments. Cool stuff here. More Tejas reports are being lined up.

member_29355 · Post by **member_29355** » 25 Feb 2016 19:20

How do we upload pix here?

JTull · Post by **JTull** » 25 Feb 2016 19:31

AKM, what's the story with the two guys painting the drop tanks? I thought it would be precision work.

Also, any news on the drop tanks optimised for supersonic flights?

member_29355 · Post by **member_29355** » 25 Feb 2016 19:38

These guys are from the Fuel Slushing and Rain Water Facility. Yes painting is largely precision work.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 25 Feb 2016 19:54

AKM wrote:How do we upload pix here?

Upload to a different server - eg Photobucket or Twitter and link here

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 25 Feb 2016 20:11

Welcome to BR AKM. Many people who read and follow your reports!

Bhaskar_T · Post by **Bhaskar_T** » 25 Feb 2016 21:17

LSP-3 flies with Cobham Quartz Radome. The source below (Mathrubhumi) doesn't allows copying the article. It has a photo of Tejas as well. This jingo can't identify if that pic is of LSP-3 or a Tejas with Cobham Radome.

http://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/ind ... s-1.889515

AKM Tweets - https://twitter.com/writetake

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 25 Feb 2016 21:26

Tejas LSP-3 flies with new Cobham quartz radome

Sources confirmed to 'Mathrubhumi' on Thursday that the Limited Series Production (LSP-3) variant of Tejas had its first flight fitted with the new quartz radome from Cobham.

The flight was piloted by Group Capt Rangachari, a Test Pilot with National Flight Test Centre, Bengaluru. During a recent visit to the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) Tejas Division in Bengaluru, Mathrubhumi had witnessed the last-minute preparations being undertaken on the LSP-3 fitted with the new radome.