Last Page of Previous Thread ---> viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7835&start=1520
Mods: Please update info below, as and when a new milestone is reached. Thank You.
Thanks to BRF Members --> Abhibhushan, Ashish Raval, Barath, Basant, Dileep, Fanne, Indranil Roy, Kakarat, Kartik, Khalsa, Lakshman_PST, Neela, Nilesh Rane, Prasad, SaiK, Sankum and Vamsee for their contributions.
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Milestones Achieved
• The TD-1 prototype aircraft (Serial # KH2001) had her first supersonic flight on 01 August 2003 and hence became the first aircraft designed & developed in India to achieve the feat in level flight.
• Raised two front-line fighter aircraft squadrons in the Indian Air Force, which are presently stationed at Sulur AFS near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The first squadron was raised on 01 July 2016 and second squadron was raised on 01 April 2020.
Initial Operational Clearance
• IOC-I: 10 January 2011
• IOC-II: 20 December 2013
Final Operational Clearance
• FOC: 20 February 2019
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General Characteristics
• Length: 13.2 meters
• Height: 4.4 meters
• Wingspan: 8.2 meters
• Wing Area: 38.4 square meters
• Empty Weight: 7,040 kg
• Maximum Internal Fuel: 2,485 kg
• Clean Take-Off Weight: 10,330 kg
• Maximum Take Off Weight: 14,240 kg
• Maximum External Payload Capacity: 3,910 kg
• Airframe Life: 9,000 hours
• Hard Points: 7 + 1
Performance Specifications
• Engine: General Electric F414-IN20 turbofan (Info Sheet --> https://www.geaviation.com/propulsion/military/f404)
• Service Ceiling: 50,000 feet
• G Limits: +8g / -3.5g
• Thrust: 53.9 kN dry thrust and 89.8 kN wet thrust
• Maximum Speed: Mach 1.6
• Ferry Range: 2,800 km
Avionics
• Radar: Elta EL/M-2032 multi-mode all weather fire control radar with day and night capability.
Armament
• Guns: One 23mm twin-barrel GSh-23 auto-cannon
• Close Combat Missiles: R-73, ASRAAM and Python 5
• Beyond Visual Range Missiles: Astra Mk1, Astra Mk2, I-Derby ER and R-77
• Rockets: TBD
• Air-to-Surface Missiles: TBD
• Anti-Radiation Missiles: TBD
• Anti-Ship Missiles: TBD
• Precision Guided Munitions: TBD
• Laser Guided Bombs: TBD
• Un-Guided/Gravity Bombs: TBD
• Cluster Munitions: TBD
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Tejas Mk1 Production Line Capacity
• Line 1* (LCA Division): Current capacity is 8 aircraft per year.
*Manage outsourcing and supply chain management
• Line 2* (Aircraft Division): Current capacity is 4 aircraft per year.
*Manage second sub assembly and integration lines
Year-Over-Year Tejas Mk1 Production & Production Line Performance
*Based on First Flight
• 2014: One Aircraft (Line 1)
• 2015: Zero Production
• 2016: Two Aircraft (Line 1)
• 2017: Three Aircraft (Line 1)
• 2018: Six Aircraft (3 from Line 1 and 3 from Line 2)
• 2019: Four Aircraft (2 from Line 1 and 2 from Line 2)
• 2020: Two Aircraft (Line 1)
• 2021: Seven Aircraft (4 from Line 1 and 3 from Line 2)
• 2022: Seven Aircraft (4 from Line 1 and 3 from Line 2)
• 2023: One Aircraft (from Line 1)
Tejas Mk1 Production Partners
Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LCA- ... rtners.jpg
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Acronyms:
• TD: Technology Demonstrator (Single Seater)
• PV: Prototype Vehicle (Single or Twin Seater)
• LSP: Limited Series Production (Single Seater)
• SP: Series Production (Single Seater)
• SPT: Series Production Trainer (Twin Seater)
First Flights of Tejas Mk1 Prototypes
HAL Reference Number ... Serial Number ... Aircraft First Flight ... Pilot(s)
• TD-1 ... KH2001 ... 04-Jan-2001 ... Wing Commander Rajiv Kothiyal
• TD-2 ... KH2002 ... 06-Jun-2002 ... Wing Commander Tarun Banerjee
• PV-1 ... KH2003 ... 25-Nov-2003 ... Squadron Leader Suneet Krishna
• PV-2 ... KH2004 ... 01-Dec-2005 ... Wing Commander Vikram Singh
• PV-3 ... KH2005 ... 01-Dec-2006 ... Group Captain Harish Nayani
• PV-5 ... KH-T2009 ... 26-Nov-2009 ... Group Captain Ritu Raj Tyagi and Air Commodore Rohit Verma
• PV-6 ... KH-T2010 ... 08-Nov-2014 ... Group Captain Vivart Singh and Group Captain Anoop Kabadwal
• LSP-1 ... KH2011 ... 25-Apr-2007 ... Group Captain Aditya Prakash Singh
• LSP-2 ... KH2012 ... 16-Jun-2008 ... Wing Commander Narmdeshwar Tiwari
• LSP-3 ... KH2013 ... 23-Apr-2010 ... Wing Commander George Thomas
• LSP-4 ... KH2014 ... 02-Jun-2010 ... Group Captain Suneet Krishna
• LSP-5 ... KH2015 ... 19-Nov-2010 ... Lieutenant Commander Ankur Jain, Indian Navy
• LSP-7 ... KH2017 ... 09-Mar-2012 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• LSP-8 ... KH2018 ... 31-Mar-2013 ... Air Commodore Kalianda Appaya Muthanna (Retd)
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Tejas Mk1 Squadron Inductions
• Strength of two fighter aircraft squadrons in the Indian Air Force (IAF).
• Deliveries to the Indian Air Force - of Mk1 single seater aircraft - were completed in 2022.
• Deliveries to the Indian Air Force - of Mk1 twin seater aircraft - are expected to be completed in 2024.
Standard/Variant ... Orders ... Operator ... Units
• Mk1-FOC (single seat fighter) ... 32 Aircraft ... Indian Air Force ... 2 Squadrons (16 Per Squadron)
• Mk1-FOC (twin seat trainer) ... 08 Aircraft ... Indian Air Force ... 2 Squadrons (4 Per Squadron)
No 45 Flying Daggers Squadron - Re-Raised on 01 July 2016
Raising CO - Group Captain Madhav Rangachari
Present CO - Group Captain Samrath Dhankhar
Strength: 16 Single Seater + 4 Twin Seater
Production Line ... HAL Reference Number ... Serial Number ... Aircraft First Flight ... Pilot(s)
• Line 1 ... SP-01 ... LA-5001 ... 01-Oct-2014 ... Air Commodore Kalianda Appaya Muthanna (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-02 ... LA-5002 ... 22-Mar-2016 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-03 ... LA-5003 ... 28-Sep-2016 ... Air Commodore Kalianda Appaya Muthanna (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-04 ... LA-5004 ... 03-Mar-2017 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 2 ... SP-05 ... LA-5005 ... 08-Feb-2018 ... Air Commodore Kalianda Appaya Muthanna (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-06 ... LA-5006 ... 30-Jun-2017 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-07 ... LA-5007 ... 12-Dec-2017 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 2 ... SP-08 ... LA-5008 ... 13-Mar-2018 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-09 ... LA-5009 ... 24-Mar-2018 ... Air Commodore Kalianda Appaya Muthanna (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-10 ... LA-5010 ... 26-Jul-2018 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 2 ... SP-11 ... LA-5011 ... 10-Oct-2018 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-12 ... LA-5012 ... 28-Nov-2018 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 2 ... SP-13 ... LA-5013 ... 30-Jan-2019 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-14 ... LA-5014 ... 18-Jan-2019 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 2 ... SP-15 ... LA-5015 ... 23-Mar-2019 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-16 ... LA-5016 ... 11-Mar-2019 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SPT01 ... LT-5201 ... 05-Apr-2023 ... Group Captain Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal (Retd) and Wing Commander Pratyush Awasthi
• Line 1 ... SPT02 ... LT-5202 … 05 Oct 2023
• Line 1 ... SPT03 ... LT-5203 ... XX-XX-2024
• Line 1 ... SPT04 ... LT-5204 ... XX-XX-2024
No 18 Flying Bullets Squadron - Squadron Re-Raised on 01 April 2020
Raising CO - Group Captain Manish Tolani
Present CO < Rank > < Name >
Strength: 15 Single Seater + 4 Twin Seater
Production Line ... HAL Reference Number ... Serial Number ... Aircraft First Flight ... Pilot(s)
• Line 1 ... SP-21 ... LA-5017 ... 17-Mar-2020 ... Air Commodore Kalianda Appaya Muthanna (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-22 ... LA-5018 ... 24-Sep-2020 ... Air Commodore Kalianda Appaya Muthanna (Retd)
• Line 2 ... SP-23 ... LA-5019 ... 22-Jan-2021 ... Group Captain Rajeev Joshi (Retd)
•
• Line 2 ... SP-25 ... LA-5021 ... 26-Mar-2021 ... Group Captain Ashish Srivastava (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-26 ... LA-5022 ... 27-Mar-2021 ... Group Captain Ashish Srivastava (Retd)
• Line 2 ... SP-27 ... LA-5023 ... 21-Sep-2021 ... Group Captain Rajeev Joshi (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-28 ... LA-5024 ... 29-Sep-2021 ... Group Captain Rajeev Joshi (Retd)
• Line 2 ... SP-29 ... LA-5025 ... 21-Jan-2022 ... Group Captain Rajeev Joshi (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-30 ... LA-5026 ... 31-Dec-2021 ... Group Captain Rajeev Joshi (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-31 ... LA-5027 ... 05-Mar-2022 ... Group Captain Rajeev Joshi (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-32 ... LA-5028 ... 18-Mar-2022 ... Group Captain Rajeev Joshi (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-33 ... LA-5029 ... 25-Mar-2022 ... Group Captain Rajeev Joshi (Retd)
• Line 2 ... SP-34 ... LA-5030 ... 14-Mar-2022 ... Group Captain Rajeev Joshi (Retd)
• Line 2 ... SP-35 ... LA-5031 ... 27-Mar-2022 ... Group Captain Rajeev Joshi (Retd)
• Line 1 ... SP-36 ... LA-5032 ... XX-XX-2022 ... XXX
• Line X ... SPT05 ... LT-5205 ... XX-Mar-2024
• Line X ... SPT06 ... LT-5206 … under construction as of 21 March 2024
• Line X ... SPT07 ... LT-5207 … under construction as of 21 March 2024
• Line X ... SPT08 ... LT-5208 … under construction as of 21 March 2024
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Accidents & Incidents:
• SP-24, LA-5020 crashed at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan on 12 March 2024. The airframe is a complete hull loss.
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Articles - Tejas Mk1
Tejas Developmental Timeline
https://twitter.com/singhshwetabh71/sta ... hiKvw&s=19
02 Jan 2023
Tejas – Not what you think it is
https://alphadefense.in/tejas-not-what-you-think-it-is/
07 July 2022
The Untold Story of LCA Tejas' Journey
https://bharatshakti.in/the-untold-stor ... s-journey/
By Nitin Gokhale, 27 January 2021
Removing Some Media Fallacies About The Capabilities of The LCA Tejas Fighter
http://delhidefencereview.com/2020/05/1 ... s-fighter/
By Indranil Roy, 17 May 2020
The pilot who helped Tejas breast the FOC tape
https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/in ... 19475.html
By Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam (Retd), 31 March 2020
Flying & fighting in HAL Tejas: Interview with test pilot Rajeev Joshi
https://hushkit.net/2020/01/25/flying-f ... eev-joshi/
25 Jan 2020
Tracking The Tejas: The Design Evolution Of An Indian Fighter
http://delhidefencereview.com/2019/02/2 ... er-part-i/
By Indranil Roy and Nilesh Rane, 22 February 2019
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Videos - Tejas Mk1
Tejas Titans: Tarmak Talking with superheroes of HAL's LCA Division
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Blueskies Podcasts on the Tejas Program
LCA Part 1 - Philip Rajkumar: Overview of the Program
LCA Part 2 - Suneet Krishna: from filming First Flight to Weapons Release
LCA Part 3 - Harish Nayani: MFD Development, Breathtaking Demos, Weapon Delivery
LCA Part 4 - Ritu Raj Tyagi: Developing Lethal Ground Attack Capabilities
LCA Part 5 - PK Raveendran - Flight Test Engineer for the LCA
LCA Parts 6 and 7 cover the Naval Tejas Program
Visit this link for those parts ---> viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7790
LCA Part 8 - Rajiv Kothiyal - Test Pilot of LCA's First Flight
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Hamara Tejas Video Series by Dr Anantha Krishnan Muralidharan Nair
The Kota Harinarayana-Anantha Krishnan show to inspire young Indians
Editor-in-Chief of Tarmaak Media House ---> https://twitter.com/tarmakmedia
Biography ---> https://in.linkedin.com/in/ananthakrishnanm
Episode-01, Hamara Tejas
Episode-02, Thursdays with Tejas
Episode-03, IAF will be dominated by Desi fighters in future: Dr Kota
Episode-04, There's nothing Young India cannot achieve now: Guru Kota
Episode-05, Top class core avionics from ADA added might to Tejas
Episode-06, Iron Bird & Brake Dynamometer facilities at ARDC add might to Tejas programme
Episode-07, HAL LCA Division races ahead with last batch of FOC fighters on final assembly line
Episode-08, Lightning Test Facility at CABS - set up with IISc might - is a tech marvel
Episode-09, The inspiring story of Flight Control Systems from ADE
Episode-10, Meet the ADE stars who developed high performance flight control actuators for LCA
Episode-11, Meet the top brains behind the Full Mission Simulator set up for Tejas pilots at ADE
Episode-12, Landing episode of extended series with Dr Kota at the controls of LCA simulator
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Quote below from Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Bhaduria (Retd.), former Chief of Air Staff - Indian Air Force
URL, 29 May 2020
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tejas today what you are getting is the BEST IN ITS CLASS IN THE WORLD.
Take my word for it.
Quote below from Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar (Retd), former AOC-in-C Western Air Command - Indian Air Force
URL, June 2018, Page 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It must be stated that the LCA Mark 1 and Mark 1A are very good aircraft. We recently conducted a major exercise called Gagan Shakti, and the LCA performed remarkably well. The best range scores and the best weapon delivery emerged from the nine LCAs we had fielded, which really worked wonders. This gives me the confidence to state that the LCA will see us through the next 20 years, if not more, in technological capability terms.
Air Force Tejas Mk1 Operational Efficiency
URL, 25 April 2018
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tejas LCA undertook 6 sorties a day. Each mission, lasting for 45 minutes on the lower side to one and half hours, proved the indigenous fighter jet's efficiency in an operational role.
Tweets below from Group Captain Harsh Vardhan Thakur (Retd) - Test Pilot, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
https://twitter.com/hvtiaf/status/11760 ... 87329?s=20 ---> As it's already a widely acknowledged fact, Jaguar has a significant Radius of Action (RoA). It's noteworthy that Tejas is even better.
https://twitter.com/hvtiaf/status/11745 ... 03744?s=20 ---> For weapon trials, Tejas goes from Bangalore to Jaisalmer direct. Even Jaguars can't do that. So whatever the combat radius, it's pretty good.
https://twitter.com/drukkk/status/12202 ... 48640?s=20 ---> Can you throw some light on Tejas low flying ability? Can it take up DPSA role of Jaguar? Is its delta wing versatile enough for Jaguar type, long range, low level flying (with external fuel tanks of course)?
***Answer for above tweet is below***
https://twitter.com/hvtiaf/status/12203 ... 58113?s=20 ---> Yes, I think no problem in that. Tejas can exceed Jaguars.
https://twitter.com/JaidevJamwal/status ... 71488?s=20 ---> Everything else remaining same, do you think that Tejas can have same effect on target as Jaguar, better or worse?
***Answer for above tweet is below***
https://twitter.com/hvtiaf/status/12205 ... 10560?s=20 ---> Yes. Same or Better.
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URL, 31 March 2018
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Abhibhushan wrote:To celebrate completion of 65 years of commissioned service and 50 years since assuming my first command of an operational unit, visited the Flying Daggers for tea and crew room Gup.
The boys are all experienced pilots.
Boys come from varied backgrounds. M2K, Jaguar, MiG-29, MiG-27 are all represented. Soon there will be boys from Su-30MKI as well. The boys were all very upbeat about their present mount.
Some snippets from crew room chatter.
— the Mk1 is better than the non-upgraded Mirage 2000
— talk about difficulties with maintenance are exaggerated
— intensive operations have been tried out successfully
— lots of scope to increase its might.
— if it is compared with all other fighters in the IAF for all-round ability, it will easily be within the top third of the list.
A very happy day for me.
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URL, 19 Jan 2020
Dileep wrote:There was a 'conference' by SIATI on Fri Sat at HAL Convention Centre. Got some gyan from the presentations.
1. HAL really upbeat about completing the production of FOC Mk1 by March 2021.
2. Two of the IOC Mk1s are about to be handed over to IAF in 'these days'. Four FOC to be handed over before FY closes.
3. They are going full steam ahead with Mk1A. Order signing is only a formality.
4. The presentation said the engine is "F404-GE-IN30" and the guy actually said IN30. I can't recall such a designation. Neither can't google uncle. Either the guy have no clue and repeated a typo made by the intern who typed in the ppt or we at BRF have no clue.
5. No 45 Daggers Sqn flew 2,500 operational hours and 3 aircraft completed the 250 hour servicing.
6. 311 "modifications" done concurrently in production.
7. 82 LRU suppliers for 344 types out of which 210 are indigenous.
8. High failure rate of 34 types LRUs which is still being worked on.
9. 3,084 Machined parts
10. 172 Rubber parts
11. 4,329 Sheet Metal parts
12. 1,106 Pipes
13. 10 Acrylic / Plastic parts
14. 427 Composite Parts
15. Capacity is 16 Aircraft/Year ---> Eight at LCA Division, four at Aircraft Division and four at our sourced suppliers (Alpha Tocol Engineering Services Pvt Ltd, TATA Advanced Materials Ltd, Larsen & Toubro and VEM Technologies Private Limited).
16. Six sets of jigs ---> four jigs at Tejas Division, one jig at Aircraft Division and one jig at sub-contractor site (front jig at Dynamatic Technologies Limited, rear jig at Alpha Tocol and mid jig at VEM Technologies Private Limited).
17. They reduced cycle times by adding sub-sub assembly jigs.
18. 43 types of jigs are required.
19. Jigs calibrated to 80 micron using a laser measurement system. That is quite fast. Full interchangeability achieved.
20. Present cycle time: 6 months per set. He outlined the plans to increase and reach the target of 16 sets.
21. 7,200 holes to be drilled per set of wing! They bought a robotic drilling machine that brought down the cycle time from 30 days/20 people to 10 days/2 people. Accuracy also improved. Better cleanliness since composite debris is vacuumed off by the robot.
22. 185 panels are made interchangeability compliant. Include 24 nos of daily inspection panels. Extensive tooling made for panels.
23. All pipe assemblies are made using jigs for full interchangeability and advanced sub assembly preparation.
Senior manager of HAL in a one-on-one meeting says "LCA can crash only if it runs out of fuel". We all touched the wooden table and made a silent prayer. The TEDBF picture is just that, "a picture that people didn't reject right away" during the brainstorming.