On the backdrop of shortage of combat jets in its inventory, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has reportedly requested Defence Public Sector Unit (DPSU) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to speed up the production of Light Combat Aircraft LCA Tejas MK-1A fighter jets to meet the contractual obligation of producing 16 aircraft each year.
The Indian Air Force, had in 2020, ordered 83 LCA Tejas Mk-1A at a cost of more than $5.2 Billion, with the delivery starting in February 2024.
Notably, in the past, a delay in the manufacturing of the first batch of 40 LCA Tejas jets was seen. The IAF, previously had ordered around 20 LCA Tejas under a Rs 2,813 Crores contract in 2006 and another 20 were ordered again under a Rs 5989 Crores contract in December 2010.
All 40 were to be delivered by December 2016. However, the deliveries were completed this year in February, which means there was a delay of almost seven years.
The IAF presently has 32 squadrons (18 aircrafts each) of fighter jets against a mandated need of 42 to tackle a two-front threat from its hostile neighborhood – Pakistan and China.
Refer below given Image.
Source: Open Sources & Compiled by thedefencespace DS
About LCA Tejas
It is a 4.5 generation, all weather and multi-role fighter aircraft. The aircraft is designed to be a multi-role aircraft capable of taking up offensive air support, close combat and ground attack role at ease. It is also designed to undertake Ground Maritime Operations.
The different variants of aircraft under production and development are:
- Single seater fighter for Air Force
- Single seater fighter for Navy
- Twin Seater trainer aircraft for Air Force
- Twin Seater trainer version for Navy
About LCA Tejas MK-1A – As for the LCA Tejas MK-1A, it is the most advanced version of the LCA Tejas. It is equipped with AESA Radar, EW suite consisting of radar warning and self-protection jamming, Digital Map Generator (DMG), Smart Multi-function Displays (SMFD), Combined Interrogator and Transponder (CIT), Advanced Radio Altimeter and other advances features. The technical specifications of the aircraft are tabulated below:
Specification
Length 13.2 m
Width 8.2 m
Height 4.4 m
Max Takeoff Mass 13,500 Kgs
Engine GE F404 -IN20
Engine Thrust (A/B) 85KN
G limits +8g / -3.5 g
Max Speed 1.6 Mach
Service Ceiling 50,000 feet
No of Hard Points 09
The key characteristics of LCA are:
- Smallest & lightest aircraft in its class Dimensionally smallest which is coupled with Extensive use of composite structure to make the aircraft lighter
- Excellent flight safety record Remarkable achievement of accident free flying.
- Compound Tail-Less Delta Increases the capacity to carry wider range of weapons like Bombs, Missiles etc
- In Flight Refueling (IFR) Probe Enhances range during mission undertaken. IFR capability has been proven for day and night operations.
- Open Architecture based Mission Computer Indigenously designed which provides interoperability, scalability and portability
- Quadruplex-Redundant Fly-By-Wire Fully redundant quadruplex digital fly-by-wire flight control system to ease handling by the pilot
- AESA RADAR Electronically Scanned Array RADAR with low probability of interception.
- Variety of Weapons LCA-Tejas is having 9 hard points and is capable to fire variety of weapons like Long Range BVR & WVR missiles, Bombs etc. with required precision and accuracy.
Other Products: Apart from the production of LCA-Tejas Aircraft, Division is also engaged with production of all the support equipment such as Tools, Testers, Ground Handling Equipment including Maintenance Simulators of different types.
Specification Source: https://hal-india.co.in/
