Air Force Tejas Mk1A: News & Discussions: 02 January 2022

[bharathp]

Rakesh, the Ukraine war cut off alloys from Russia that go into US engines. Now they are looking at alternates. So there is a delay. Govt will take right decision.

Very interesting that Russia supplies alloys for US jet engines!

which really got my thouhts into a tangle.. then Russia could easily "embargo" or "sanction" US so that these critical alloys wont come to US.

[srai]

do we have everything else for the airframes ready? can airframes be assembled without engines

Short answer is yes.

F-404 Engine on Tejas are a line replaceable component that can be attached/exchanged at BRD within a short couple of hours or so.

Only thing here is that for the IAF to accept new units is that they are certified by HAL; so engines required for final delivery. It means HAL will require additional storage facilities to temporarily hold on to the airframes. It would also be possible to cycle one engine around for certification purposes and if IAF willing hand over the airframe for storage by the IAF.

[ArjunPandit]

^^just curious if we can keep the airframes ready and swap with existing engines or put in engines when they are around

[srai]

^^^
Engines are swappable easily. Typically, you will have extra reserve engines around.

Check out Gripen engine change by field technicians with very little tools and can be completed in an hour.
viewtopic.php?p=2625424&hilit=Gripen#p2625424

[ArjunPandit]

do we have everything else for the airframes ready? can airframes be assembled without engines

Short answer is yes.

F-404 Engine on Tejas are a line replaceable component that can be attached/exchanged at BRD within a short couple of hours or so.

Only thing here is that for the IAF to accept new units is that they are certified by HAL; so engines required for final delivery. It means HAL will require additional storage facilities to temporarily hold on to the airframes. It would also be possible to cycle one engine around for certification purposes and if IAF willing hand over the airframe for storage by the IAF.

exactly my point, we need to get the planes ready..there seems to be more than what is disclosed

[Haridas]

No one seems to explain why we're willing to produce GE-414 but not willing to produce GE-404 engines in India.

Economies of scale doest work for making 180 F404 deliveries starting 2027.!!
F414. will be made in many times that starting 3 yrs.

[Luxtor]

Even if we did, it wouldn't solve the problem because it seems to be happening upstream in the GE Supply Chain

Plus I think there might be some hanky-panky going on with the US Deep State trying to slow/scuttle our indigenous aircraft programs by these delays

All the more reason that India needs a National Powerplant Mission, like yesterday

We always knew of the U.S., right? We knew that they'll start doing some "hanky-panky" once we become reliant on them. So why choose a GE engine in the first place? I was very surprised and concerned when they chose an American engine for the Tejas having the experience of post Pokhran and other sanctions that they put on India. No lessons were learned from these experiences. I only hope that engines from the French or the Europen EJ200 can be physically fitted with minor adjustments for the engine control and fuel systems. Never rely on a single vendor. My secondary hope is that our Kavery engine comes along in a short time to be used in Tejas.

[Manish_P]

...We always knew of the U.S., right? We knew that they'll start doing some "hanky-panky" once we become reliant on them. So why choose a GE engine in the first place? I was very surprised and concerned when they chose an American engine for the Tejas having the experience of post Pokhran and other sanctions that they put on India....

Our babus always declaring 'we will never buy fighters from the US' and then giving ok for an american engine for our desi fighter

Then again knowing about the existence of various lobbies and gravy trains in our government apparatus, it should not be that surprising.

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/alpha_defense/status/1833484858192253157 ---> GE F404 were promised for September (not delivered). Next review likely be done in November.

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/alpha_defense/status/1833484858192253157 ---> GE F404 were promised for September (not delivered). Next review likely be done in November.

Read the entire tweet below from Anantha, but highlighting a key point...
https://x.com/writetake/status/1833460877389140332 --->

Dr DKS will have 20 months to pilot HAL.
...
With @IAF_MCC likely to get a new CAS soon, the going will be tough for HAL, with the man tipped to the post being a go-getter. He will demand planes that will fly for his boys when they want, and not excuses. Then there are several other projects that require his immediate attention. He will also have to throw out the moles from his office, who are part of the ex-Chairmen's Club.

[Karan M]

This is comic. What can he do in 20 months. Is the Govt even serious.

[ernest]

I wouldn't think too much about it. Last few years, AKM defence reporting has shifted scope. He now focuses on personalities that the technical aspects and on-ground progress of defence reporting. Sad to see this happen

[maitya]

Now this is interesting ...
Brazil Could Buy India’s LCA Tejas If IAF Acquires Embraer C-390 Aircraft! Are Brazilians Hinting At Swap Deal?

...
Talking to the Indian news channel TimesNow, the Brazilian air chief said that the Tejas fighters were an option for the Latin American air force.
“According to our rules, we should have not less than two and not more than three kinds of fighter aircraft. Currently, we have the F-5 and the Gripen, but after 2030, we will need maybe two more kinds as the F-5 goes. So, while the Gripen remains, the Tejas is one of the options for our second or third fighter plane,” he said.

Damasceno will visit the Indian aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bangalore and fly in the LCA.
...

[Rakesh]

^^^ Wow, the Brazilians have rules (to avoid having a zoo fleet)!

We operate on zero rules. Buy whatever suits our fancy.

[ashishvikas]

Looking beyond HAL, IAF proposes public-private partnership to ramp up Tejas production line
https://theprint.in/defence/looking-bey ... e/2264726/
12 Sept 2024

“The performance of the LCA at Tarang Shakti (an international air exercise being held by India) has been exemplary. Issue is matching the production capability with our requirements. Our present orders of 83 LCA Mk 1A, which will be followed up with 97 more, will definitely take a few years to fructify,” IAF chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhary told reporters here.

He added: “The way forward is to diversify production lines, have more public private partnerships or joint ventures with private partners to have multiple weaponry lines as well as multiple production lines.”

The IAF chief was responding to a query on how India can afford to try and sell the Tejas to other countries when deliveries for its own air force is delayed.

[ashishvikas]

After Rajnath Singh flags Tejas engine delay with US, GE comes up with new delivery schedule
https://theprint.in/defence/after-rajna ... e/2264403/
12 Sept 2024

American engine maker General Electric (GE) has assured India of a fresh delivery schedule, starting November this year, for the F404-IN20 engines that will power the country’s Tejas Mk1A aircraft, ThePrint has learnt.

“GE has given a new schedule…They will start the delivery of engines from November,” a high-ranking source told ThePrint. Sources further said GE has promised them two engines per month.

[Rakesh]

@ 2 engines per month, it will work out to a little over 4 years to complete delivery of all 99 turbofans. So by early 2029, all 99 engines should be delivered. And this is for the first batch of 73 Mk1As and 10 Mk1 trainers. And this delivery schedule (assuming it is followed to the letter), ties into the overall schedule below...

Planned Deliveries of the Mk1A Single Seat Fighter - URL, 13 Aug 2021
• 2024: 2 aircraft
• 2025: 8 aircraft
• 2026: 14 - 16 aircraft
• 2027: 14 - 16 aircraft
• 2028: 14 - 16 aircraft
• 2029: 14 - 16 aircraft

The second tranche of 97 airframes will require another contract, which has yet to be signed. And the GE F414 license mfg agreement is also still awaiting signature.

[ashishvikas]

@ 2 engines per month, it will work out to a little over 4 years to complete delivery of all 99 turbofans. So by early 2029, all 99 engines should be delivered. And this is for the first batch of 73 Mk1As and 10 Mk1 trainers. And this delivery schedule (assuming it is followed to the letter), ties into the overall schedule below...

The second tranche of 97 airframes will require another contract, which has yet to be signed. And the GE F414 license mfg agreement is also still awaiting signature.

I guess an aircraft would need 2/3 engine in their life cycle.. better we order all at once and stock them up.

[Rakesh]

@ 2 engines per month, it will work out to a little over 4 years to complete delivery of all 99 turbofans. So by early 2029, all 99 engines should be delivered. And this is for the first batch of 73 Mk1As and 10 Mk1 trainers. And this delivery schedule (assuming it is followed to the letter), ties into the overall schedule below...

The second tranche of 97 airframes will require another contract, which has yet to be signed. And the GE F414 license mfg agreement is also still awaiting signature.

I guess an aircraft would need 2/3 engine in their life cycle.. better we order all at once and stock them up.

Modern turbofans - especially Western ones - require only components to be changed (when needed) and not the entire engine. An MRO facility for the F404 and F414 would be nice to have, but certain components will still have to come from the US. This will affect squadron serviceability in the years and decades ahead. Maitya-ji, any inputs?

Ordering all at once matters little, when you are at the mercy of the OEM's delivery schedule. Heaven only knows what the geopolitical situation will be in the next few years. Geopolitically speaking, Amreeka is the most unreliable nation to deal with. Any signed agreement/contract with the US is not worth the paper it is signed on.

[Rakesh]

Looking beyond HAL, IAF proposes public-private partnership to ramp up Tejas production line
https://theprint.in/defence/looking-bey ... e/2264726/
12 Sept 2024

https://x.com/SJha1618/status/1834244957676228985 --> Parallel lines in the private sector for the Tejas family have been proposed quite a few times in the last decade. The chief bottleneck today is the engine. Unless a contingency plan is greenlighted such talk will remain precisely that.

[Rakesh]

^^^ There never will be a serious contingency plan, as India's enemies live within the country.

A well known quote ---> If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.

Just as the IGMDP program was started in the 1980s (for missile development), India needs her own Engine Development Program in three key areas;

1) Turbofan (fixed wing) and Turboshaft (rotary wing).

2) Marine Propulsion (for surface and sub-surface vessels).

3) Diesel Propulsion (for armoured vehicles i.e. tanks, IFVs, etc).

At the moment, we are working on some of the above (but not all). Put everything under one umbrella and headed by a technocrat.

[maitya]

I guess an aircraft would need 2/3 engine in their life cycle.. better we order all at once and stock them up.

Modern turbofans - especially Western ones - require only components to be changed (when needed) and not the entire engine. An MRO facility for the F404 and F414 would be nice to have, but certain components will still have to come from the US. This will affect squadron serviceability in the years and decades ahead. Maitya-ji, any inputs?

Ordering all at once matters little, when you are at the mercy of the OEM's delivery schedule. Heaven only knows what the geopolitical situation will be in the next few years. Geopolitically speaking, Amreeka is the most unreliable nation to deal with. Any signed agreement/contract with the US is not worth the paper it is signed on.

Couldn't resist, so another long post warning - so better to ignore it:

====================================================================================================
Frankly, all these reporting around the "reasoning" behind the F404 delivery delay is utterly confusing ... and frankly, I feel, even the basic of the cross-questioning (to these so-called "reports") have not been done, so far.

Take for example, all this nonsense talk about "raw material" unavailability from Russia/China - hang on, first thing first:
Just which component/LRU of F404 is manufactured from a raw-material that is uncommon with corresponding component of, say, F414 - which one?
Or, for that matter TFs from P&W, RR, Snecma et all.
In fact, I's actually tempted to ask for comparison between the so-called raw-materials that are used in F404 and, say, those that are used in modern civilian turbofans - which is that unique "raw-material" of F404, which none of these other TFs, both civilian and military, uses?

I'll answer it, there are actually none.

But, such raw-material unavailability, is it impacting F414 deliveries anywhere? Or other military turbofans from P&W/Snecma/RR? Or for that matter the Civilian turbofans?
Nah ...

Then again, such unavailability is also not impacting F404 Lic Mfg countries in SoKo and Sweden (in both cases, the hot-section is whole-sole imported from OEM, anyway).
Now, if anybody is claiming, these mythical raw-material of whatever little components that gets manufactured in these countries, have been mass-imported over last 4-5years, somehow forecasting this shortage (years later), well, people are free to assume whatever they want, I guess.

Then there's this talk of rare-earth raw-material import embargo by Russia-China - really?
There may as well be an embargo, I wouldn't know for sure, but are you telling me to believe strategic nature of high-end turbofan manufacturing is dependent such single-sourced (or dual-sourced, a la China) raw-material imports ?
C'mon ...

Truth be told, I think this whole argument around raw-material unavailability causing F404 delivery delays, is a big hogwash - true, there's a shortfall, due to the war (or even an embargo etc) but IMVHO, that is not what is causing this delay.

On the contrary I feel the more plausible reasoning (for this delay) is what is quoted in the Print article above:

Government sources said GE had informed them there were supply issues and that re-certification of new vendors took time. However, they said one was never fully sure whether other dynamics were also not at play.

It's a pure-and-simple question of demand and supply - and low-demand will invariably result in vendors (of the supply-chain) shutting down a product mfg line and diversifying into something else - nobody keeps such high-end (and thus costly) manufacturing line idle (except maybe the govt-controlled ones or maybe even the PSU ones).
In the low-volume world of niche areas like military TF manufacturing, no decent vendor can survive being a one-trick pony (or exclusively focused to a handful of component manufacturing of a particular TF model).
And there's been a very lean patch for F-404 over last 5+ years - and yes, COVID didn't help either.

Once a Vendor moves on to a different product line, it will take quite a bit of time and effort (and of course front-loaded funding) to reconfigure back to the old TF component manufacturing.
Plus, it may require certification as well, if that vendor is manufacturing the said component for the first time (even though they may have been manufacturing another component all along i.e, part of the vendor supply chain of the OEM).
Some 99 TF order is hardly a large enough deal to be financially viable, to go thru all these pain (and front-loaded funding), for many of these vendors as well.

Having said that, even this argument looks slightly sketchy - as I doubt the vendor supply-chain base for F404 would be any different for the F414 (and maybe, in fact would be, that of the P&W products).

Now this does bring back the other part of the question - why not go for an indigenous F404 Assembly line, atleast for the upcoming 99 Mk1A contract deal?
Again there's a myth, that needs debunking here - the myth of not enough volume/numbers to justify setting up an indigenous assembly line.

The answer, is what is in the 2nd para of this post - question remains, exactly which component manufacturing setup of F414 is vastly different from those of F404?
Actually there are a few Turbine components that are quite different, but that's about it - but then again GE wouldn't allow these components to be Lic manufactured in the first place. So importing them is the only option anyway - either for F414 or F404.
As an example, is the reasoning that a vendor who is able to manufacture the Ti HPC blades (or discs) or the Fan or any other such component of F414, wouldn't be able do the same/corresponding component for F404?
Well ...

So, if you are on the verge of completing a ToAsT deal for the F414 manufacturing, just ask for F404 Lic MFg alongwith it.
The asking money ~$9-10m/TF is ain't cheap, so why so much shyness/reluctance/gora-log-kya-kahenge towards asking for a little more "value" from it?
Moreso, when there's absolutely 0-chance of offending the sahibs (tauba-tauba) by asking some critical technology ToT, as a part of it. Compared to F414-level technology, there's nothing in F404, that can be called, even-remotely, "critical tech".

But the story becomes even more tragic (would have called "funnier" had it not been about something wrt critical/strategic aspects) - pls think thru the following for a moment:
Today we are happily asking/handing-out-contracts to various of our indigenous manufacturing companies (e.g. Godrej, and there an handful more) for the dry Kaveri components. Isn't it?
Now, how difficult do you think it'll be for these very same companies to start manufacturing the F404 components - whatever little hand-holding or ToT that'll be required, can and will always be part and parcel of any such deal anyway.
And HAL engine div is supposed to be playing the lead-integrator role anyway.

So basically, there's already a ready-made F404 indigenous-manufacturing-supply-chain base in existence - all that is needed a little bit more of nurturing/hand-holding, and bingo we will be well on our way of achieving whatever little atmanirbharata such ToAsT deals allows for.
A healthy MRO included ...

However, don't hold your breath towards anything of that sort fructifying - this all pervasive import-pasandness will simply obscure any such thought process. Period!!

[sanman]

[Rakesh]

Couldn't resist, so another long post warning - so better to ignore it:

Thank you. I would expect anything less from you Saar

See below...these guys want TOT With these gems we got working in HAL, it is a wonder how anything gets done. They are not getting TOT on the F414-INS6 turbofan, but they still tried for TOT on the F404! And when turned down, they decided against local assembly...but no issues with local assembly of F414 turbofan for the Tejas Mk2. HAL will eventually produce 180 Mk1As. That is a triple digit order. These bright gems are the ones that Air HQ is relying on to shore up the squadron strength in the IAF. And then folks wonder why Air HQ wants phoren fighters.

Below is part of a twitter thread from a twitter user who went to the IDAX (Indian Defence Aviation Exposition) at Jodhpur.

https://x.com/Tanishq_bafila/status/1835004402396197003 ---> GE deadline for F404 engine for September has been moved to November. I had a long conversation with a HAL official regarding the F-404 engine. He says HAL is using spare engines for the Tejas Mk1A. Currently, HAL has the capability to produce 16 jets/year.

https://x.com/Tanishq_bafila/status/1835005383951417641 ---> Reason why India did not go for local assembly of F404.

Q: Why didn't IAF go for the local assembly of F404 jets engines, as South Korea & Sweden are assembling it?

A: He replied, "Everyone gives local assembly, but they don't give TOT. GE wasn't giving the TOT that we wanted."

[Manish_P]

...

https://x.com/Tanishq_bafila/status/1835005383951417641 ---> Reason why India did'nt go for local assembly of F-404.

Q: Why didn't IAF go for the local assembly of F404 jets engines, as South Korea & Sweden are assembling it?
A: He replied, "Everyone gives local assembly, but they don't give TOT. GE wasn't giving the TOT that we wanted."

In the same twitter thread, a spokesperson from DRDO about the UTTAM AESA on Rafale M

"Even we won't give the technology to anyone"

Maybe the DRDO guy should talk to the HAL guy

[maitya]

Couldn't resist, so another long post warning - so better to ignore it:

...
...
https://x.com/Tanishq_bafila/status/1835005383951417641 ---> Reason why India did not go for local assembly of F404.

Q: Why didn't IAF go for the local assembly of F404 jets engines, as South Korea & Sweden are assembling it?

A: He replied, "Everyone gives local assembly, but they don't give TOT. GE wasn't giving the TOT that we wanted."

Have they even tried? If yes when, and what aspects GE were agreeable wrt this so-called ToT? Same level as in S Korea or as in Sweden?
Note: IN20 version is quite a bit advanced than what either of these countries Lic Manufactures.

But atleast this realization dawning that - "Everyone gives local assembly, but they don't give TOT" - this in itself is the silver-lining.
Nobody would just handover their hard-earned technology dev in a platter - not until atleast, they are convinced that we ourselves are in the verge of achieving it.

And that is where Kaveri program was so crucial ... Kaveri is almost a gen ahead of 404 technologically, and any hint of it about to be getting into mass-manufacturing phase would have done the trick - i.e. a flying Kaveri (even with suboptimal wet thrust rating) would have "rightly incentivized" OEMs like GE to agree for true ToTs etc.

Oh well, here I go again ...

[Rakesh]

First Tejas Mk1 A to be delivered to IAF by October-end, Israeli software iterations completed
https://theprint.in/defence/first-tejas ... d/2268460/
15 Sept 2024

The first Tejas will be delivered with Category B engines, reserve engines which may have been used before or came in and remained unused as part of earlier deal with GE for Tejas series.

[sanman]

[Prem Kumar]

And that is where Kaveri program was so crucial ... Kaveri is almost a gen ahead of 404 technologically, and any hint of it about to be getting into mass-manufacturing phase would have done the trick - i.e. a flying Kaveri (even with suboptimal wet thrust rating) would have "rightly incentivized" OEMs like GE to agree for true ToTs etc.

Maitya: sorry if you have already answered this, but is the bolded part true and verifiable (by testing data)? That's a very significant milestone, if true and should be tom-tommed widely

Also, if it is true, why do we need ToT for GE-414? Is the tech-leap that significant?

[maitya]

And that is where Kaveri program was so crucial ... Kaveri is almost a gen ahead of 404 technologically, and any hint of it about to be getting into mass-manufacturing phase would have done the trick - i.e. a flying Kaveri (even with suboptimal wet thrust rating) would have "rightly incentivized" OEMs like GE to agree for true ToTs etc.

Maitya: sorry if you have already answered this, but is the bolded part true and verifiable (by testing data)? That's a very significant milestone, if true and should be tom-tommed widely

Also, if it is true, why do we need ToT for GE-414? Is the tech-leap that significant?

As I've said before, all such claims, will remain merely a claim, until and unless there are mass-produced (and mass-used) Kaveris - IOW, merely demonstrating a technological capability, is not even 20-30% of actually fielding that capability in mass-manufacturing mode.
So, I or anybody, can claim as much as we want - fact remains, Kaveri is a lab product, and that too a product that hasn't even completed it's full-spectrum of tests (read 2-3K hrs of minm of flight tests).
Thus, comparing its technological depth/maturity to a product (F404) that has been mass-manufactured in 1000s and used/flown for last 3 decades etc, that too on a variety of platforms, is simply nonsensical.

Having said that, all one needs to do is to, carefully analyse Kaveri's published design and it's performance parameters with those of F404/RD-33 series/AL-31FP etc (and then repeat the same exercise with M-88/EJ200/F414 etc), and it should be clear why such a claim is being made.
I myself have written tomes on this for almost decade+ now, and it's scattered all over the Kaveri thread (and the sticky gyan thread), so won't do that again.

However, let me end this post (am desperately trying to put a top to long posts) with a rhetorical question:
Show me a modern turbofan (excluding 5th Gen stuff like F-119, Izdeliya-30 etc), with similar form-factor, that can achieve 51KN of dry thrust with just 6 HPC (and 3 LPC/Fan) stages and at ISA+30deg C.
(hint: flat-rating etc)

I could have used other parameters and asked the above question slightly differently, but then again, the post will become lengthy and cumbersome.

============================================================================
PS: Wrt the highlighted part, pls note I'll be ignoring those posts, that I'm sure will start cropping up, quoting the thrust-rating as mentioned in various technicolor brochures.
And to those, who will be/are going to do that, two facts (or let's say thumb-rules):
1) Higher the BPR, bigger will be the impact (negatively) to the dry thrust with increase in ambient operating temp.
(and of course, India is not in Europe unfortunately, the ambient temp here are vastly diff)
The remedy of course would be wrt TeT (and thus the OPR as well) - i.e. alternately, pls quote engines which has BOTH proportionately higher TeT and OPR settings (than Kaveri).

2) Those who are going to quote engine TWR etc, pls do so wrt thrusts achieved at ISA+30 deg C ... and that not at ISA itself (from technicolor brochures).

[basant]

GE-414 is for both Tejas Mk2 and AMCA. Bigger deal. Besides, the proposal for GE-414 local manufacture is not new and has been around for about 15 years.

I've been having a thought for a very long time. Why can't we use GE-414 for Tejas Mk1X also? It needs a little more air intake capability, but one can always throttle the performance to GE-404 level to address that issue.

[Kartik]

Egypt is reportedly sending a delegation to HAL Bangalore for further discussions regarding a possible interest in purchasing 18 Tejas Mk1A fighters and an undisclosed number of ALH Dhruv helicopters.

Egypt military shopping- eyes Tejas and Dhruv as high level delegation visits HAL

Delegation visited Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd’s facilities this week, days after its maiden international air show. It is rumoured the African country is also going in for Chinese J-10s.

Jodhpur: Egypt is exploring the possibility of buying light combat aircraft Tejas and the advanced light helicopter Dhruv from India, ThePrint has learnt.

While talks have been going on since last year, sources informed that a high-level Egyptian delegation visited the facilities of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) this week.

This comes days after Egypt concluded its first International Air Show which saw significant Chinese presence and the first showcase of China’s J-10 fighter jets in Africa. There are rumours that Egypt is going in for the J-10s.

Notably, HAL was also in Egypt for the air show to demonstrate its products.

Sources in the Indian defence establishment told ThePrint that Egypt is looking at procuring about 18 Tejas Mk1A aircraft from India.

Not just Tejas, the Egyptians are also interested in buying the Dhruv helicopters for surveillance, transportation and medical evacuation, sources said.

As reported by ThePrint last year, the sale of Tejas, if and when done, will also see a maintenance, research and overhaul (MRO) facility in Egypt.

..

[Kartik]

Related to ADA, hence posting here.

Man behind Tejas milestone, Jitendra Jadhav takes over as Chief of ADA

[Rakesh]

Another Tejas Mk1A delay...

Not just engines, Tejas Mk-1A delivery could be hit over key Danish part, now on export blacklist
https://theprint.in/defence/not-just-en ... t/2272527/
18 Sept 2024

https://x.com/alpha_defense/status/1836301810451284298 ---> The larger story on "Tejas" should be "Danish Embargo" not the power amplifier. I am sure we went on with L1 instead of looking for reliable supplier. (I am flagging a similar story on submarine). You can just walk into Jubilant Enpro today and get an aircraft grade charge amplifier.

[basant]

Noobs: Let's make all the parts of the a/c to manufacture/export as many a/c as we want.
Customer: Let's import the total product so that no part would be missing.
We sadly miss stand-up comedians on defence.

[sanman]

Denmark Sanctions A Particular Tejas Mk1A Component

[rrao]

The charge amplifiers are used for capacitive type vibration/accelerometer sensors if i am not wrong. These accelerometers/vibration sensors are of 90s origin .New solid state sensors are available from aome vendors, which can be used. only thing is development time and certification is time consuming.

[drnayar]

Very interesting that Russia supplies alloys for US jet engines!

which really got my thouhts into a tangle.. then Russia could easily "embargo" or "sanction" US so that these critical alloys wont come to US.

maybe india can source the raw material from russia and americans make their engines in india !

[sanjayc]

The charge amplifiers are used for capacitive type vibration/accelerometer sensors if i am not wrong. These accelerometers/vibration sensors are of 90s origin .New solid state sensors are available from aome vendors, which can be used. only thing is development time and certification is time consuming.

Govt. should identify all such devices used in Tejas and set up a target to indigenize (even if requirement is small in number) as a national priority. This will help avoid these petty restrictions from puny countries in our critical defence infrastructure. Who can forget the saga of Russia refusing to supply brake pads for our MIGs in early 1980s, due to which our aircraft could take off but couldn't land as there were no brakes. Then Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory replaced these with home-made brake pads that worked better than the Russian ones!!

This thinking of "order size is small, and this product is easily available abroad" needs to go. Anything can be denied at anytime to stop your wheels at a critical juncture. What if Soviets had declined to give the brake pads during war with Pakistan? Whole kingdom would have been given away for want of a horse!

US banned export of critical raw material of COVID vaccine to India during height of the pandemic. Till a couple of years ago, India was importing 90% of APIs for medicines from China. The list goes on and on ...

[ramana]

The charge amplifiers are used for capacitive type vibration/accelerometer sensors if i am not wrong. These accelerometers/vibration sensors are of 90s origin .New solid state sensors are available from aome vendors, which can be used. only thing is development time and certification is time consuming.

Govt. should identify all such devices used in Tejas and set up a target to indigenize (even if requirement is small in number) as a national priority. This will help avoid these petty restrictions from puny countries in our critical defence infrastructure. Who can forget the saga of Russia refusing to supply brake pads for our MIGs in early 1980s, due to which our aircraft could take off but couldn't land as there were no brakes. Then Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory replaced these with home-made brake pads that worked better than the Russian ones!!

This thinking of "order size is small, and this product is easily available abroad" needs to go. Anything can be denied at anytime to stop your wheels at a critical juncture. What if Soviets had declined to give the brake pads during war with Pakistan? Whole kingdom would have been given away for want of a horse!

US banned export of critical raw material of COVID vaccine to India during height of the pandemic. Till a couple of years ago, India was importing 90% of APIs for medicines from China. The list goes on and on ...

Very true. Both are wary of rise of India.