Saab roped in to assist Tejas MK1 A

Saab roped in to assist Tejas MK1 A

Swedish defense firm Saab requested to assist in the LCA program, to resolve the problems in the Tejas and to produce upgraded variant of Tejas called MK 1 A. IAF already orderd 20 Tejas from HAL, which has no real fighting capability nor any guided launching capability. IAF looks for a upgraded Tejas which can capable to perform BVR missile firing along with internal EW suites to fight in modern battlefield.

The IAF has an requirement of more than 300 light aircraft similar like Tejas, However due to the issues in Tejas, IAF ordered 40 units, later decreased into 20 units due to its incapability to fight in modern battlefield. Since the first batch of twenty aircraft's don't have any real fighting capability,  rather than just being used for training purpose.

Tejas don't have BVR firing capability, no proper electronic warfare suites, no air fueling capability and very low combat radius. Due to this backlogs IAF is not ready to use the Tejas, since concerns raised by IAF, ADA and DRDO offered a modified Tejas under MK 1 A program, since Mark 2 program is long way ahead.

Under the MK 1A, Tejas comes with much sophisticated suites like, BVR missile firing capability, Modern Israeli AESA, advanced internal EW suits and much needed aerial refueling capability. IAF and Ministry of Defense set timeline of 2018 to produce those aircraft, and IAF plans to order some 100 MK1 A units.

HAL and DRDO tried to work with the imported missiles, radars and interface systems to modify the Tejas. However they failed to achieve it in scheduled time, and they faced huge cap in technology, So they looking for a foreign partner to help to overcome from the issue.

Saab is the one who is a world leader in aerospace and defense, who tries to push the Gripen to IAF many times, since IAF and ADA fears bringing Gripen can end the Indian development of Tejas. and IAF also rejected Gripen many times.

Now again ADA and DRDO looks into Saab to assist in the Tejas development. by this means Saab will try to modify the entire Tejas air frame to accommodate modern systems and sensors. and help the Israeli missiles and radars to interface with the Tejas computers made by India.

Sources close to Economic times said that, First level of talks with ADA/HAL and Saab has been completed, and another high level expertise committee from Sweden will arrive India next week to carry forward the discussion.

Ministry confirms 106 improved Tejas Mark 1 A for IAF

Ministry confirms 106 improved Tejas Mark 1 A for IAF

   The defense ministry once again confirmed the acquisition of five squadrons of modified Tejas light fighters into IAF. This number adds the earlier orders of 40 IOC 2 standard Tejas fighters. Making the total orders of 146 Tejas fighters in IAF. The ministry also insists the HAL to double the  production capability to deliver those fighters before 2023.

    The Indian Air force has nearly 260 numbers of older generation MiG 21 and MiG 27 fighter aircraft's. Air force already started decommissioning of nearly 20 fighters every year. However there is no option of inducting newer fighter jets. Except the earlier ordered Su 30 MKI units. The ADA designed HAL Tejas also perform poor and inadequate to conduct IAF missions.

    The CAG criticized the HAL and ADA , that they didn't provide a good fighter jet for the IAF's requirement of Light combat aircraft, The CAG found issues in Tejas, the list includes lack of Electronic warfare suites, radar warning receivers, counter measure suites, issues in weight, reduced fuel storage and over weight ballast. 

    However the Air force agreed to buy 40 IOC 2 Tejas jets, even those fighters having above mentioned problems. Tejas planned to deliver those first order of 40 fighters before 2019. By delivering eight fighters per year, starting from 2016.

   The IOC 2 standard aircraft's have  Kevlar radome, Lack of BVR missile firing capability, lack of in-flight refueling, lack of self protection jammers. The IOC 2 Tejas can capable to conduct close air support mission inside friendly air space, with Laser guided bombs supported by Lighting Pod. Tejas also fire short range IR guided missile for self protection.

   The Mark 1 A fighter have increased performance, with reduced weight, ADA plans to remove the Ballast and re engineer the landing gear, both of them can reduce the weight by nearly one ton. however many analysts confirms there is no way of reduce the weight more than some 400 Kgs. The pre assumed value of one tone is pure specifically Aviation experts said. 

    In addition the Tejas Mark 1 A comes with dual color missile approaching warning system, Radar warning receiver, and externally carried self protection pods in wingtips and counter measure dispensers who can provide provide protection to the Tejas against enemy missiles. This allows the fighter can perform missions in stand alone mode. Even have capabilities to conduct mission in contested airspace.

    Mark 1 A comes with solid state AESA radar made by Israeli firm ELTA,The actual range of the Radar remains classified, However performance wise the EL/M 2052 AESA have range of more than 200 kilometers. with the simultaneously tracking of 64 air targets with look down shoot down capability. The EL/M 2052 can guide more than four missiles into variety of air targets at once.

    Adding the Cobham quartz radome can increase the range of Radar. In Air to ground mode the Radar perform better Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging, ground target detection and tracking, real beam tracking and weather application too.

   The Mark 1 A can fire long range radar guided air to air missiles like Israeli made Derby BVR missile and Indian made Astra BVR missile, each having interception range of more than 50 kilometers. with the in flight refueling the range of the LCA can be increased, allows the fighter remain in the air for long time.

   The Tejas Mark 1 A can achieve the first flight before 2018, and the serial production starts the same year. with the production capability of 16 fighter per year to meet the 2023 time line to deliver all 100+ Tejas Mark 1 A fighter. Ministry provided nearly 1200 crores to HAL setup and modernize the production line to increase the production capability.

   Compared to the previous versions, the Mark 1 A have more than 43 modifications,  The Tejas Mark 1 A becomes 5500 kg of weight compared to the Tejas' 6500 ton weight. reduced weight can improve the fighter to carry more weapons and increase the combat radius.

ADA Tejas for Sri Lankan Air force

ADA Tejas for Sri Lankan Air force

ADA Tejas

   A silent Indo-Pak stand-off is brewing up in Lanka. India’s premier aerospace agency ADA is gearing up to offer the HAL manufactured Tejas or the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to Sri Lanka Air Force. This is undoubtedly a game changing move to the maturing aerospace industries of India.  Sri Lankan Air Force is all set to replace its aging fleet of Mig 27 and Kfir platforms with advanced light combat fighter jets. Pakistan has already offered Sri Lanka its JF 17 multi role fighters and went on to claim of a possible deal. Time and again Sri Lankan officials have denied of having worked out any deals.

   Tejas is a demonstrating product for the budding Indian aerospace industry.  Tejas was designed and manufactured in India by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), further the jet was manufactured by HAL in house. Tejas even though built in India has incorporated an array of international components. The engines, radars and missiles were all imported and then further integrated to form a deadly weapon platform. However JF-17 was designed and developed by Pakistan and China with its own resources. Major components were built in-house and further incorporated to the aircraft. The reliability question of these components however remains unanswered.

   Considering on paper stats, the JF-17 has an upper edge over the under-development Tejas. The combat radius of the JF-17 is just unquestioned. The aircraft is powered by a Russian RD 93 engine. The aircraft also uses Chinese made  air to air missiles. These missiles were cloned from the original components and are vulnerable to malfunction threats.  The aircraft also carries a mix of air to ground munitions. The aircraft uses cruise missiles and anti shipping missile. However the need of SLAF is unique; Sri Lanka is a country that has seen lot of political unrest. SLAF employees extensive numbers of ground attack platforms, the real need is for an aircraft capable of dealing with aerial threats. The JF-17 fails miserably in this regard.

  Sri Lankan based newspaper ‘Sunday Observer’ has run a detailed report regarding the offer of Tejas to SLAF. Quoting the newspaper “India offers its latest Tejas multi-role combat aircraft to the SLAF to compete with Pakistani offer of JF 17”. The newspaper claims SLAF sources have been keen in both the jets and rank both the aircraft as very potential in fighting capability. SLAF is a cash strapped force; the budget allotted to SLAF is extremely less. Undoubtedly SLAF will consider the factor an economically viable option. The selected jet has to perform multiple missions. Reliability will be another concern for the SLAF; JF-17 was fielded years ago and has dedicated production lines. Tejas is yet to be inducted to the force; Its primary end user IAF has raised concerns over the performance of the jet.


SLAF currently operates nine Israeli made Kfir multi-role aircraft. Under its command is also seven Chinese made MiG 21 variant F-7 interceptor and  6 Soviet made MiG 27 ground attack jets. The diversified jets have overtime forced SLAF to spend a chunk of its budget on the maintenance of these aircraft. Plans of replacing these aging war pieces with a single model multi-role fighter air craft.

IAI Kfir

   SLAF have relied on Russia to induct aircraft to its fleet. SLAF is not only responsible of securing the air space but counter any arising on ground.  Sri Lanka is recovering from the Civil war waged by the dreaded LTTE. This war had shown the need for multi-role jets. The air space was always prone to attacks and there was unprecedented activity on the ground.

    As mentioned, SLAF has a very pale budget. High end products like the F-16 Blk 52 are the best aircraft that suits the needs of SLAF but budget is a major concern. America had made clear it wasn’t interested in helping Sri Lanka during LTTE war. All these factors have led Sri Lanka to look at the products fielded by maturing contenders.

    Sri Lankan Air Force Chief is scheduled to visit Pakistan early next month as a routine official visit. However some sources mention that he will be observing the PAF aircraft taking-off to skies. This show of force will be led by JF-17 and a deal may very much be finalized during this visit. Pakistan during Paris air show had claimed of an Asian country having signed up for a squadron of JF-17’s. Sources say it was Myanmar Air Force that reached out Pakistan for the aircraft but details were never divulged and the credibility of the deal is left unanswered.

JF 17

  

    Aircraft survivability is one more factor to consider; PAF has lost one or two JF 17 in accidents till date. It's widely known that a JF 17 crashed in late 2011; Faulty engines with Chinese sub-parts in the engine blades were ascertained as the reason for the crash. The pilot failed to eject from the aircraft due to a major fault in the crucial ejection seat. This is a major dent to JF-17. Tejas has clocked several thousands of air time in its test flights. The aircraft has been in flown in the most extreme conditions. The aircraft has remained in the skies and touched ground only when ordered to do so.

    The major concern for exporting Tejas is the need for obtaining clearance from various partners. The engine for the aircraft is from General Avionics, a USA based company. America has freezed all help to Sri Lanka after reports of war crimes surfaces. Various other components haven been imported from USA. For a deal to mature it is crucial that US gives a go ahead; America has been blunt in denying any assistance to Sri Lanka. The deal will go nowhere but down if Sri Lanka fails to kill the war crime allegations.  Taking all these factors it is likely that SLAF will likely favour and opt for JF-17 in the near future. 

Editor Karthik Kakoor

Updates about Rafale and LCA Tejas

Updates about Rafale and LCA Tejas

   Some Recent updates about both the LCA Tejas and the Rafale aka medium and Light fighter, as the  Rafale and LCA almost missed it's induction date, the Ministry plans for some alternate solutions to fulfill the Requirements.  recently some information's floated in the media's about the cost escalation of Rafale and missed deadlines of Tejas's Final operational clearance which is the reason of the delay.

   The two factors mainly  the Rafale is offset clause and more weapon integration, at first the Offset clause, earlier in the MMRCA competition, the Supplier will invest 50% of deal value in India, in both Public and private sectors, as earlier projected some six to eight billion dollars will be invested back into Indian Companies by french firms once the contract and Settlements finalized, but India formally scraps the MRRCA tender by early this year and Defense Minster confirms the same in Parliament, as a new announcement in Paris made by Prime minister about direct acquisition of  some 36 Rafale.

    But the same also need bunch of bureaucracy  clearance before making final contract, for both Indian and French delegations in Talks to finalize the contract and about the Offset clause, to Full new procurement plan the French agreed to invest only 30% deal value in India, as India wants it should be 50% , so both of them in negotiations  for the Offset clause, so it's clear it took more than a month to clear the negotiations, whether it's 30% or 50% or somewhere between 30-50%.

    The second most negotiation is the Weapon integration, The IAF insists the deal to use the Indian made Astra BVR missiles into the Rafale Aircraft, and also raised about firing the Air to ground missile Brahmos, for that French asked more money since it's need a small hardware and computer changes including algorithm to support foreign weapons into the Rafale since the Rafale's computer and Radar will designed to coupled with French and European weapons, not the Indian and Russian Standard weapons. so for that French asked more money to for the structural and algorithm changes, but here India Contract negotiation committee negotiating about the cost escalation.

    By coming LCA, there were several critical issues, as meant the radar nose cone and flight refuel probe delay from the European companies,which makes the LCA program takes one more deadline and  pushed it to next year for Final operational clearance, there is no clear information who is delaying, either the HAL or the supplier, also till the HAL doesn't delivered the ordered IOC standard Aircraft to the IAF, there is a Assembling problem is also raised, earlier some reports mentioned due to lack of capacity of HAL, Government plans to scrap the HAL from LCA project and plans to handover the project to some Private Companies, but the news is not verified.

   another issue is the lack of Internal Electronic countermeasure, the Defense Minister reported that the missing Internal ECM suites in the Tejas, which saves the fighter from threats,  but due to the small size fighter, in the early days such systems are huge in size, So it's hard to house inside the light aircraft, but now it's available in Tiny size, but this will be added only in the Mark 2 version of Tejas, Defense Minister told in Parliament.

    Another is the Maintenance and logistics nightmare, HAL fails to answer the questions raised by IAF about the maintenance of Tejas fighter, IAF found lack of spare and engineers to resolve problems after deploying the Fighters under the IAF, every fighters Needed to be checked before making the sortie for the Base need huge number of Ground support crew's, 

    as these Two major problems in Both Rafale and Tejas, It looks like their is no sign of good news this year, 

ADA Tejas 1 P with AESA Radar

ADA Tejas 1 P with AESA Radar

     HAL Plans to retrofit the Israeli made EL/M 2052 aesa radar on the serial production of Tejas once FOC is achieved,so far LCA uses the Israeli made  2038 radar which is a Doppler Multi mode radar known as mmr. so far Tejas test fired the Russian made R 73 heat seeking missile, which is a Short range IR guided missile, but the BVR missile yet to be fired from the Tejas, as per initial planning IAF wants the Tejas to fire both Israeli and Russian Missile along with Indian m,ade Astra BVR and some other Precession Guided Munitions.

         For long Range Interception Most Fighter Aircrafts carry Long Range BVR missiles, which allows them to engage enemy fighters from safe distance,  Tejas having low Combat radius which is noted less than 500 Kilometers one of the main reason why IAF rejecting the Tejas, due to this less combat radius The Tejas should need a Long range BVR missiles, Tejas planned to Carry BVR missiles like Indian made Astra which having range of some 70 kilometers, the Russian made R 77 missile having Range of some 80 kilometers, and the Israeli made Derby missile having Range of some 50 kilometers,

        But so far no reason provided by the HAL or the ADA why Tejas still not fired the BVR missiles either anyone of them, earlier Tejas launched a R 73 with using bore sights which will not uses much of the Radar for fire and control the missile, the Israeli elta already provided the source codes to the ADA to integrate missiles and Bombs with the Radar and with the Fighter Jets primary control systems, it's a Huge technology needed to integrate the Radar with Fighter jets and communicate with other platforms like Ground Stations and other aerial platforms like AEWCS.

       which also a major concern why IAF not interested in Tejas, even the decade old MiG 21 Bison which is a Upgraded version have BVR missiles for Interception, the Bison uses the R 77 adder missile for BVR engagement and R 73 Archer for Short range engagements. that's the main reason why IAF still using the Bison's in it's fleet and not interested the Tejas,

       Tejas not yet received the In flight Refueling probe, but it's already on behind the schedule by some six months, so far no informations are received, also recently the HAL team carried out hot refueling of Tejas, means Refueling the plane while the engine on working, a step towards refueling in the Air.

     The missile firing questions many things, does the Radar or the data links have problem to fire missiles and Bombs, and the IAF also interested in ASEA radars, where ADA planned AESA radars only on MK 2 versions or retro fit later, two models of planned one is Israeli ELTA made EL/M 2052 AESA another ARDE Uttham AESA recently unveiled on the Aero India 2015.

     It's the Indian Navy who is eagerly wants the Naval version of Tejas. who is also funding for naval tejas project too, the Naval Tejas planned to carry Kh 31, and Kh 35 Anti Shipping missiles, but the current situation is the same like BVR integration, means they yet to integrate and fire the missile.

      By these all problems It's seems that ADA and HAL plans to fit the AESA radar in Tejas to Fire those multi kind of Missiles, the news also not comes from official spokespersons or HAL, but some sources closed to ADA reveal the information, It's good to having a AESA in Tejas which gives more range and more target informations accommodate more missiles and fires them guide them to hit the Target, if Tejas fitted with AESA, then it becomes the first IAF fighter who comes with Operational AESA Radar equipped Fighter Jet

Suitable MiG 21 Replacement

Suitable MiG 21 Replacement

MiG 21 Bison Aircraft

       The long awaited answers for the ever troubled MMRCA deal aka ‘The mother of deals’ has been officially announced by the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who has said the MMRCA will seize to exist. The Modi led government has lighted up the path for the landing of the crucially needed Rafale’s by negotiating a $4 billion deal with the French according to which IAF will be acquiring 36 Rafale’s in fly away condition from France. 

       But this bold move for doing away with 36 jets has failed to answer the needs of the IAF. The problem of replacing the MiG 21 with a reliable light combat aircraft has been unanswered, LCA Tejas designated as a replacement to the work horses MiG 21 is now years behind the schedule. 

   Tejas by now was expected to be serving the forces and if HAL has struck to the old plans the aircraft would have entered its first MLU (Mid Life Upgrade) but yet the program is to materialized and IAF waiting to receive its first squadron of the Tejas. Tejas is now in the lime light and received the crucial clearance for serial production and IAF will soon be armed with the first squadron of the Tejas in this fiscal year.

         HAL, the state owned aerospace pioneer has been struggling to provide India with a reliable LCA for long. HAL is already overburdened with projects that when completed promise to provide with a formidable punch. Any more projects awarded to HAL will only take out the dipping resources from the company’s work force.

    Hence asking HAL to build the MMRCA will result in further more delays than what has been witnessed till date. HAL would need 2.7 more times to build a single fighter jet than what is taken by Dassault in France. Dassault would be rolling out the third Rafale when HAL would just be completing a single Rafale. What the Indian population has to understand here is the technologies used in the manufacturing of a ‘Fighter jet’ is the best available in the industry.   

       Mr.Parrikar has stated LCA will replace the MiG 21 if no other single engine fighter can replace the existing fleet of the MiG 21 leaving enough pressure on the HAL to work will all its might to stick to the revised deadline for the LCA project.

        Light fighters have a unique set of capabilities, with light weight as its main stay the fighter enjoys a very high degree of maneuverability and the infrastructure required for the operation of these jets is too less.

        The requirements of IAF by these aircraft are not merely to replace what role the MiG 21 was playing the force but IAF expects these jets to perform wide array operations that will effectively reduce the need for other specialized aircraft. 

   The desired Combat Air Patrol (CAP) of the aircraft is around 100 minutes. The aircraft should be able to carry a wide array of armaments. The aircraft should accommodate around 10 A to A missiles and shall also make dedicated space for Ground attack munitions which are crucial for CAS missions. 

     Lighter platforms can turn out to be effective means for reconnaissance missions and provide continuous support to the forces. The combat radius of the aircraft is desired to be around the 1000 km circle from its base of operation, the aircraft is also desired to have a very less reaction time and the aircraft is believed to enjoy a very high QRA thus providing the support to the forces when it is crucial.

       The LCA Tejas is a multirole light fighter powered by a single engine capable of accommodating a single crew. The LCA is a supersonic fighter developed by the state owned HAL. Tejas is a product of the LCA program that was conceived in 1969 by the Indian government, for better management of this program the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) which was formed after the merger of over 100 defence labs, industrial organizations and various other eminent institutions which would guide HAL in the making of this indigenously developed jet. 

  The project was to be developed indigenously developed and the government expected about 70% of the components in LCA to be manufactured in India and the dependence on imported components used to be progressively reduced in the coming years.     

      The design for the LCA was completed by 1990 and was designed as a small tailless delta winged aircraft with relaxed static stability and modern control configurations that could provide a very high degree of maneuverability to the aircraft.

    Dassault aviation of France was selected as the consultant for the project and would manage the projects progress and would also provide assistance to India. The first phase of the project was started in 1993 and concentrated on the designing, development and testing of two technology aircraft. The aircraft finally took to skies by January 2001 promising India of an indigenously developed jet. 

      The second phase was started around November 2003 and would be the last stage in which prototype aircraft would take to skies and would be very technically advanced products which would incorporate the developed anomalies that were witnessed in the first prototype. The project after being delayed for long has now materialized and has enjoyed a good track record. 

      HAL has for now build various prototype that have evolved to a very technical advanced product, each new prototype has adapted battle deciding technologies. On 25th April of 2007 after a glorifying ceremony the first limited series production aircraft coded LSP-1 completed its first flight in Bangalore. 

      Extensive trials aboard this aircraft were carried out checking the reliability of the aircraft. The navy version also took to skies in 2010 paving the way for a naval version of the Tejas.  In 2010 LCA project had a major leap with four more LSP taking to skies and were awarded the crucial IOC.  

     Tejas received its all crucial IOC-II by the end of 2014. With various tests being conducted throughout India involving the weapons system, sensors, propulsion units and various other subsystems the aircraft is expected to handed over its FOC (Final Operation Clearance) by the end of this year. 

 

LCA Tejas in a Air to Air Config

Multirole Payload

 Editor Karthik Kakoor