The Indian Tejas resumes testing

The Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Indian (LCA), which was grounded since August 2012, has finally resumed flight testing in late November. Seven flights have taken place since then without incident ( Source: Business Standard ).

Remained secret for more than three months, stop testing Tejas was due to a problem with the pilot's helmet. It became apparent that the screen integrated into the helmet DASH could hinder propulsion Martin Baker ejection seat and killing the driver. The seat has been modified with a fallback mechanism for blowing the canopy before it is reached by the pilot's head. The ADA has also benefited from this layoff to correct other problems reported by drivers.

The three month delay pushed the operational status of Tejas in mid-2013 that is already two years behind the original schedule. It will be ready for combat missions in 2014-2015 with a naval version for aircraft carrier. To the west, Pakistan has already inducted three squadrons of JF-17 Thunder, the joint development with China yet started 16 years after the Tejas.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has already placed orders for two squadrons of Tejas (42 exactly) at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). The Defence Minister of India AK Antony told the Parliament on 21 May 2012, provided that the term six IAF squadrons of Tejas (126) equipped with General Electric F-414 2022.

India’s Light Combat Aircraft Prepares For Operational Clearance

India’s indigenously developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is likely to win its final operational service clearance, following testing as part of an air exercise in February.
The single-seat, single-engine supersonic fighter will be put to the test during the “Iron Feast” exercise to be held in Pokhran in the western Indian state of Rajasthan.

“The Tejas will display its capabilities in the exercise, where its lethality, endurance and precision will be tested, and if the aircraft meets all parameters, its first squadron will be deployed in Bengaluru,” says Air Marshal Anjan Kumar Gogoi, chief of Southwestern Air Command.
The Tejas is designed to carry air-to-air, air-to-surface, precision-guided and standoff weaponry.
As of March, the LCA had undergone more than 1,816 test flights up to speeds of Mach 1.4. Initial Operational Clearance-1 (IOC-1) was achieved in January 2011. According to the Indian defense ministry, the Tejas has undertaken weapon trials, including flights with a laser-guided bomb. Various sensor trials also were conducted early this year. All told, the Tejas program has clocked 1,903 flights, totaling 1,120 hr.

The Indian air force (IAF), which has ordered 40 Tejas Mk-1s from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), has begun to induct the LCA, according to a ministry official. Out of the 40 aircraft, 20 were ordered under the IOC standards, with the rest under Final Operational Clearance standards. IAF plans to induct six LCA squadrons over the next 10 years, the official adds.
The first two squadrons, comprising 40 aircraft, will have first-generation Mk. 1 fighters. The additional four squadrons would be more-powerful Tejas Mk. 2s. The final price tag of the Mk. 2 only will be available after its development phase is complete , the official says.
The LCA’s design and development program is being led by the Aeronautical Development Agency, with HAL as the prime contractor.
The Indian government so far has approved 118.45 billion rupees ($2.1 billion) for the development of the Tejas, of which 50.51 billion rupees has been spent, the official says.

Tejas fighter jet won't be combat-ready before 2015

At a time when the US is fast-developing hypersonic bombers capable of flying at 20 times the speed of sound, India's largely home-grown Tejas light combat aircraft will "not be ready to go to war" anytime before 2015.

The latest assessment of Tejas, which has now clocked close to 2,000 flights in its almost three-decade-long developmental saga, holds the light-weight fighter will be capable of firing guns, rockets and BVR (beyond visual range) missiles as well as air-to-air refuelling only by 2015 at the earliest, say defence ministry sources.

That is when the single-engine Tejas will become fully combat-ready after getting the final operational clearance (FOC). The review suggests that the fighter is again headed to miss a deadline in its convoluted tale that began in 1983 as an endeavour to replace the ageing MiG-21s.

So far, Tejas has achieved only initial operational clearance-I (IOC-I) to certify it's airworthiness. "The IOC-II for the fighter, which also includes integration of some weapons like laser-guided bombs, was pushed back to December 2012. But now, it will only be possible by July, 2013, or so after over 200 more sorties. FOC will come only two years after that," said a source.

India will eventually spend over Rs 25,000 crore in the entire Tejas programme, including the naval variant and trainer as well as the failed Kaveri engine, as earlier reported by TOI. But more than the cost, it's the time taken to develop a fully-tested, weapons-ready fighter that underlines how critical defence projects should not be run.

While it is true that developing a supersonic fly-by-wire fighter from scratch was never going to be easy, the entire project could have been managed much better. IAF, on its part, is supporting the fighter programme since it knows the country's need to have indigenous weapon systems is strategically critical.

Plans are underway to upgrade the Sulur airbase in Tamil Nadu, which will house the initial Tejas squadrons inducted in the IOC-II configuration, at a cost of Rs 524 crore. While the first 20 Tejas will be powered by the American GE-404 engines, the next six Mark-II squadrons (16-18 jets in each) will have the more powerful GE F-414 engines. The $822-million deal for 99 GE F-414 engines is likely to be inked soon, with additional engines being ordered at a later stage.

The number of fighter squadrons in IAF will further dip to 31 over the next three to four years with phasing out of the aging MiG variants, further impacting IAF's combat capabilities, before it slowly begins to pick up with new inductions. Projections show IAF will have the required 45 squadrons only by 2032.

Many chinks in IAF’s armour

Depending on what media you access, the price of the Rafale, the new “bird” of the Indian Air Force (IAF), ranges between $10 billion and $18 billion. Clearly, while the IAF will fly the Rafale, the media is flying kites! However, for the IAF there is plenty of turbulence to deal with.

The deal has been delayed, even though it was trumpeted as the fairest in India defence procurement history, thanks to earlier objections raised by Rajya Sabha MP, Mr M.V. Mysura Reddy. It took the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the IAF well over five years to initiate final negotiations. These negotiations will take a further year to close if all goes off well with the inquiry the Defence Minister has ordered.

In this one-year period, the cost could rise by at least 25 per cent, combining inflation and the depreciating rupee. Thus, a seemingly fair procedure has come at a very high cost. Meanwhile, Rafale has developed new radar and added some avionics and airframe capabilities.

WHAT ABOUT TEJAS?

Maintaining its fighter squadron strengths to the minimum mandated level is the biggest challenge for the IAF. Even with the addition of the proposed SU 30s and the Rafaels, the strength of the fleet is unlikely to reach the desirable 42 squadrons that it plans by 2020. The IAF will retire more aircraft (such as the Mig 21s and the Jaguars) over this period than it will induct. Thus, the air force is likely to be short of optimum strength in fighter planes well into the next decade.

The lack of squadrons is directly related to war preparedness and results in a domino which includes lesser sorties flown in peacetime, constrained war wastage reserves and a bigger part of the fleet in overhaul and maintenance.

Lost in the cacophony surrounding the acquisition of the Rafale is the fate of India’s own light combat aircraft — the Tejas. The aircraft has been under-funded from its inception in 1983 — the actual funding for the programme came almost a decade later in 1992. The Indian defence acquisition strategy is at variance here from that of China, which has focused on indigenous aircraft development since the 60s.

The LCA Tejas has, as yet, not got simple clearances, such as an all-weather-capability and lightning strike clearance. The strategic role of this aircraft is in question, although it has world-class avionic capabilities. It is unlikely to be inducted in effective numbers till 2018 or even later.

Thus, the IAF has a missing middle — a single-engine new aircraft that can act as the bulwark — even as it gets very expensive twin-engine-heavy Sukhois and Rafales at the top end.

INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICIT

The IAF does not have a basic trainer aircraft on which to hone the skills of rookie pilots. The IAF is probably the only air force in the world that puts pilots directly on a jet rather then a turboprop basic trainer. Even the jet trainer is of a model from the 1970s. The Hawk aircraft have come a decade too late and the interim has caused loss of precious lives and compromised training.

The MoD has belatedly approved the acquisition of the Swiss Pilatus trainer. Even if its procurement procedure goes forward, it will be five years before a fleet can be put in place. This is because acquiring the aircraft is only the beginning. Instructors have to be trained on the new aircraft and the equipment protocols put in place.

Till such time, the safety record of the IAF is likely to suffer all the more. The IAF lost 46 fighters in the last six years. Alarmingly, the losses include not just aging MiG 21s, even ultra-modern SU 30s were lost.

The IAF does not even have hangar facilities for majority of the SU 30s. This came to light when exposure to foreign elements was believed to be a cause in the last major crash of an SU 30.

If basic infrastructure on the ground such as a hangar is unavailable in requisite numbers one can only imagine the state of more advance airworthiness procedures.

Some years ago the IAF damaged half a dozen frontline Mirage 2000s in Gwalior when a hangar complex housing them collapsed apparently due to sub-standard construction. No lessons have been learned.

The list of woes is endless — from Russian air-to-air missiles, that as a CAG report pointed, under-perform both in range and in accuracy during operations, to the fact that by the IAF’ s own admission there are major gaps in radar coverage across India.

It is time that these matters were discussed in Parliament and the public domain, even as the Ministry of Defence mandarins pretend it is business as usual and bask in undeserved glory.

India, US Deal for LCA Engines Soon

For enhancing the capabilities of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) India and the US are close to signing a deal worth over $600 million for supplying 99 jet engines manufactured by American giant General electric (GE) corporation.

Around two years ago, India had selected the American company General Electric over its rival European Eurojet 2000 for the LCA Mark II programme expected to be ready around 2014-15.

Negotiations with the US firm over various issues involved in the deal, including price and transfer of technology, have been held and it is hoped that the deal for these engines to be fitted on the LCA Mark II would be signed soon, Defence sources said here.

As per the contract, the order could be for 99 engines initially but India will have the option of order for another 100 engines in the future.

The engine on offer for the LCA Mark II is GE F-414 engine, which are more powerful that the GE F-404 engines fitted in the first batch of LCAs that the Indian Air Force would receive in near future.

The need for changing the existing engines in the LCAs was felt after the IAF found out that the GE-404 engines were not providing enough power to the aircraft and more powerful engines were needed for the purpose.

The DRDO is developing the LCA Mk II to meet the Indian Air Force requirements and it will have latest technological equipment including the latest Active Electronic Scanned Array (AESA) radar and would be able to carry more payload than the LCA Mk I.

Last month, the trials of the LCA Mk I were carried out in Pokharan desert firing range where laser-guided bombs and other weapon systems were tried.

As per the current plans, the IAF will induct two squadrons of the LCA Mk I and then the delivery of LCA Mk II aircraft would be done.