TEJAS LIGHT COMBAT AIRCRAFTS

Group 7|

Arnab | Rudra| Atul| Ankur

TEJAS LIGHT COMBAT AIRCRAFTS

A project of IMMENSE importance

Indias First Indigenously built Fighter Aircraft

It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21, 23 and 27 series fighters. The Indian Air Force (IAF) plans to have 42 sqaudrons of Combat aircrafts

its sanctioned strength of combat aircraft from 39.5 squadrons The current squadron strength of the force is 33. To lose more in the coming years

TIMELINE and CRITICAL DELAYS

the Final permission was granted only in 1983 that too the responsibility of design was given to DRDO (ADA lab) and manufacturing to HAL project definition phase for the LCA had been completed by 1989. A full scale engineering development (FSED) phase-I was sanctioned in 1993

Need for LCA accepted in 1969

got approval from three out of the four members of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) within a couple of months but was held up by the PMO for more than two years on various pretexts.

Air Commodore PM Ramachandran was willing to take on the challenge provided his name was proposed jointly by DRDO & Air Force so that he was not identified as an Air Force man or a DRDO man and he could function freely in the interests of the project

A higher risk alternative of digital quad-redundant path had been chosen for the fly by wire system, but no investments were being made for testing the system being developed

In 1998 USA imposed an embargo on all support for the LCA and confiscated all data and documentation in possession of our team working there on proving the digital flight control system on an F-16 simulator

A lot of hard work now had to be redone by the team on their return to India. Ultimately, the LCA Technology Demonstrator-I flew for the first time on 4 Jan 2001

CURRENT Timelines and Delays

Currently in Full-Scale Engineering Development (FSED) Phase-II,
under which Indias DRDO was trying to deliver production fighters to the IAF by December 2010. Initial Operational Clearance wasnt granted until January 2011.

Limited Series Production aircraft in final configuration have arrived,

but IOC issues arent expected to resolve until June 2011 most weapons havent been tested yet, and full operational clearance (FOC) as a day/night, all-weather platform isnt expected until December 2012. Final Operational Clearance for induction isnt expected until 2013. formation of a Tejas squadron at Sulur Air Base in Tamil Nadu, The first test-flight of the Tejas Mark-II scheduled for December 2014, production beginning in June 2016

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