American engine and Israeli radar/missiles: surprised Egypt would be interested!
Posted on 04/18/2016 6:31:04 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
New Delhi: India's Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, which was several years in the making, has now caught the attention of foreign buyers, with Sri Lanka and Egypt evincing interest in the indigenously built fighter jet.
Sri Lanka had recently rejected Pakistan's JF-17 aircraft built with Chinese help, while Egypt had last year signed a contract for 24 French-made Rafale fighter jets.
The two countries are interested in the current version of the Tejas and not the upgraded one which will be rolled out later.
However, state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the manufacturer of Tejas, is focusing on delivering the aircraft to the IAF first.
"While there is an interest which has been shown (by other countries), let us get the product first to our own customer. The confidence that will come to others when our own Air Force flies it will be immense. So at first, we should at least meet the initial requirement of the IAF," HAL chairman T Suvarna Raju told PTI.
Refusing to share information on which are the countries that have evinced interest in Tejas, he expressed confidence in his marketing team and said they are equipped to take forward the talks. However, Defence sources said that the two countries which have evinced interest in Tejas were Sri Lanka and Egypt.
He said the "current version is more than enough" for smaller nations.
Two things that go in favour of the Tejas are its lower cost and flying ability.
"We have proved its flying ability and the aircraft, for that class, is a terrific one. We did take some time but we need to remember that DRDO and us did everything from the scratch," Raju said.
Raju said that the upgraded version of Tejas, with an Active Electrically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, integrated Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite, mid-air refuelling capability and beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missiles, will cost between Rs 275 crore and Rs 300 crore.
Sources said enquiries by foreign countries came during the Bahrain air show in January, the first time that Tejas flew outside the country.
The decision to send Tejas abroad was of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who has put his weight behind the aircraft.
LCA Tejas performed an 8-G (gravity) pull, vertical loop, slow fly-past and barrel roll at the air show, which Indian officials described as "historic".
Interestingly, soon after the announcement of the Tejas' participation in Bahrain, Pakistan had withdrawn its JF-17 aircraft from the show despite having paid the initial installment which ran into a few millions US dollars.
Tejas is perhaps the world's smallest lightweight, multi-role single engine tactical fighter aircraft.
JF-17 has been developed jointly by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation of China. However, experts feel that the aircraft has been assembled in Pakistan from ready-made Chinese kits.
HAL is likely to hand over the fourth Tejas aircraft to the Air Force by June end. The four aircraft will make up the first squadron of IAF which will be used for training and familiarisation.
Rather than wait for LCA Mk II, IAF had decided to go for an upgraded version of the existing Tejas with over 40 modifications.
IAF plans to acquire 120 Tejas aircraft, with 100 of these having major modifications.
As per the production plan, six aircraft will be made this year and HAL will subsequently scale it up to eight and 16 aircraft per year.
The LCA programme was initiated in 1983 to replace the ageing MiG-21s planes in IAF's combat fleet but has missed several deadlines due to various reasons.
American engine and Israeli radar/missiles: surprised Egypt would be interested!
Pilot seat upholstered in mismatched plaid.
It’s a tiny little thing, comparatively-speaking, isn’t it?
I would suspect the delta wing lets its carry a plethora of goodies for such a small plane.
Thanks sukhoi-30mki.
An American engine with Israeli radar/missiles sounds like a good combination. If the Indians can buy a proven engine from a friendly country and the engine fits the specs, then why not do that rather than developing a new engine? I wonder how India’s new jet compares with recent Chinese fighter jets.
“Pilot seat upholstered in mismatched plaid.”
To give a serious answer to your quip, it’s a Martin-Baker 0/0 seat. Very nice, actually. I think they are made by the same people who make seats in a Rolls Royce.
This is an interesting bird. Pretty stealthy, due to size, overall “flat” shape, and a really clever mix of the cheaper composites.
The engine is nice, as well, with a good mix of high and low altitude power.
The avionics are unmatched, but then I am biased. ;-)
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The Tejas Indians beat them all to use of their word, which means, "Friend".
Oh -- and, that's where a little ol' State (with a city [El Paso] closer to the Pacific than it is to some other cities in the State) -- got its name... '-)
Mirage wing and Harrier nose ?
All joking aside, that does seem to be a capable aircraft. The mismatched plaid quip comes from my having to share elevator rides at Bechtel with Indian engineers dressed jsut that way (annd with copious BO). That was decades ago, btw.
If the Vulcan and the F 106 Delta Dart had a baby this would be it
red dot on the canopy
It’s a sharp-dressed plane.
“Don’t mess with Tejas!”
You must have been riding the same Bechtel elevators that my dad did. I recall him commenting on the indifferent hygienic practices of some of the imported engineers. A fondness for garlic was another elevator winner.
Concur. It’s a “fine” aircraft as in “good enough.”
I wouldn’t pick these for a deep strike in enemy territory, but they’d do fine in a group defending India against China or Pakis.
Certainly better than the Mig21, and with the correct tactics (and numbers) would be a real threat to any plane in the air — certainly anything China has in numbers.
Quick, maneuverable, cheap.
The IAF has never been “opposed” to the Tejas as such but the way the project has been run. The Tejas has not been run with cohesion: one agency has been solely involved in design and testing, another will manufacture it and the IAF will use it and all three are not fond of each other.
The IAF has a major need for a low-end small fighter. I really don’t think there’s any chance of India going for the F-16 — the Pakistan connection, the airframe’s basic age and lack of further production viability are all negating factors.
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