Actually related to Jaguar upgrade, it wasn't ready either, took a lot of flight hours, then due to limited testbeds, SRK and Uttam left out. Also radar is assembled by HAL (60% by value), so it's their profit.
Astra Mk1, Mk2 still has some time
LCA Tejas Mk1 & Mk1A - News and discussions
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Astra Mk1, Mk2 still has some time
Flying Su-30 without canards temporarily is not the same as inducting an uncertified Mk1A. That comparison is engineering nonsense, not logic ....IAF pilots’ lives are not a testbed
If repeating nonsense counted as certification, Mk1A would have been operational years ago. HAL and reality disagree.But as I said, wait for rafale, tejas will come only then
Because the IAF didn't want that.
Yeah, I didn't know that it was still in the testing-phase until the poster above told me. My apologies.
So, Uttam isn't even fully tested yet?
Saw what during Op Sindoor?
During Op Sindoor, IAF Su30 MKI were pummeling Pakistani airbases with Brahmos ALCM, the same Brahmos ALCM whose integration was carried out at a cost of Rs.80 crore (as opposed to Rs.1300 crore asked by Russia).
HAL in the lead along with 100 other companies carried out the integration without any Russian help on a Russian platform and ensured the program a success.
The first batch of LCA mk1A was always intended to have the Elta radar and jammer. Starting from the 41st, there was a chance of swapping it with UTTAM. However, this will not happen now because testing has not been completed at the DRDO end.
This is the same reason why HAL will use Israeli maritime radar with Do-228 upgrade for navy. Data Pattern delivered the radar on time, but DRDO couldn't complete testing and certification.
You can't blame HAL in both of these cases. They will be responsible if they can't deliver the aircraft on time to the customer because they chose to go with an unproven radar. They already have other equipment delays.
Air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons firing trials, along with software fixes, have been completed on the advanced variant of India’s indigenous fighter jet, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark-1A (Mk1A), and are awaiting certification, a source at state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) said on Thursday. This comes as the company stated that “five aircraft are fully ready for delivery”.
In October, HAL officials had said deliveries of the Mk1A to the Indian Air Force (IAF) would begin by the end of financial year 2026 (FY26).
“The weapons firing trials for the indigenous Astra beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, the British ASRAAM missile for close-range combat, and laser-guided bombs for ground attack have been completed. The pending software patches have also been completed. Both are now pending certification,” the source said on the condition of anonymity.
“There are Air Staff Quality Requirements (ASQR) laid out for the Mk1A jets that HAL had agreed to meet. However, the company is seeking some relaxation in these capabilities in order to deliver the first five jets by March,” said one of the sources. “Otherwise, the start of deliveries could slip to May with fewer concessions, or even to June or July if all the ASQR capabilities are to be met,” they added.
ASQRs are specific, documented standards, qualifications, and performance metrics that equipment must meet to fulfil operational requirements.
Stating that the IAF will review the Mk1A project in the near future to assess whether its requirements have been met to warrant acceptance of deliveries, one of the sources said: “There is a list of issues highlighted by the IAF, including those related to operational matters and safety, that need to be addressed before the service can accept delivery of the jets.”
The sources explained that one key operational issue was the proper functioning of the radar in conjunction with other systems, such as the electronic warfare suite.
It's weird and funny at the same time that the Elta EL/M-2052 AESA radar is having a hard time functioning properly with the Elta ELL-8222SB SPJ.
Sir would like to ask you, was rafale induction done same way? Were all promised slash contracted capabilities there or software changes, or more specifically "not battle ready"
The point is HAL can go and fall at ACM feet and beg them to induct Mk1A but Tejas will only come after Rafale deal is done, rest are theatrics
Edit : To support my previous point
The one that missed was in Feb
I mean, it's commonsense. Just look at the Eurofighter. It got an AESA recently, it couldn't even fire BVRAAMs at first, neither could it drop LGBs.
Technology is improved iteratively, this is true everywhere. Unlike the IAF, the Europeans didn't shift goal posts every time something shiny came up.
That's not to say that HAL is blameless, the "light" attitude has been encouraged too much in HAL, recently, it was revealed that the Employees were delaying it for their yearly bonuses. This kind of work culture has no place in the defense sector.
Technology is improved iteratively, this is true everywhere. Unlike the IAF, the Europeans didn't shift goal posts every time something shiny came up.
That's not to say that HAL is blameless, the "light" attitude has been encouraged too much in HAL, recently, it was revealed that the Employees were delaying it for their yearly bonuses. This kind of work culture has no place in the defense sector.
See for us it's easy to say IAF should have faith on HAL and believe in iterative development. But when these kinds of things happen, anyone would lose faith. IAF is dealing with these guys for decades. And their attitude has always been lackadaisical. Heck even government is losing faith on HAL. Over the years I had the fortune of meeting certain people online and offline on certain events. Some of them have worked with HAL, and most say the work culture there is very hard to fix. They could finish some projects within weeks but they don't. They have this "Chalta hai attitude". And apparently this is because of Unions. If any action is taken by the higher ups against them, they will resort to strike. I expect these unions doing some drama when the government initiate the process of restructuring HAL. These unions are involved with political parties/organisation ranging from INC, CPIM, SP....BJP/RSS.
LCA is the product of iterative development. LSP -> IOC -> FOC -> Now Mk1A. IAF supported them with all the initial orders, even though all the given timelines were consistently breached.
Mk1A is suppose to be an evolved matured product. The contract was ordered in February 2021, so it has been 5 years. This means they had more than enough time to iron out any teething issues.
IAF is taking this opportunity to make noise so that all stakeholders support them with their long-standing request to break the aviation monopoly.
My man, iterative development means actually ordering stuff. The money that the IAF pays for indigenous products is comically low. For instance, they payed less than a billion dollars (adjusted for inflation) for Kaveri. The fact that it has a TWR of 7:1 with afterburner and 5:1 on dry is a miracle.
They can't keep paying HAL chump change, not order anything and then expect products on par with European ones.
I don't understand why this kind of attitude is so prevalent in HAL. Other organizations like DRDO deliver products just fine.
Are you saying they delivered Captor-E ECRS Mk0 without ability to fire BVR? First time hearing this. can you give a source?
IAF did order IOC, FOC and Mk1A.
Also, IAF dont pay for kaveri. Its GTRE asking money to then govt based on their projected requirement.
Money has no relation with quality of product in this case. This is not a free-market heaven. Every DPSU is limited to a margin of up to 7%.
LCA D&D is done by ADA not HAL. HAL is the production agency.
You need to learn a lot of basics. Btw, Welcome to the forum.
I should've added "relatively" there...
Still, they deliver good stuff. The Astra Mk2 has an AESA seeker, the SAAW is good, the SDFR is a success, the NGRAM is a great replacement for the Kh-31, Nirbhay is a great missile, the NASM-MR is coming along nicely.....
(Pls let me cope)
I was talking about the time when it was stuck with Captor-M.
How many did it order?
How much was spent on Tejas?
Thanks.
Still, money has no relation to the quality of the product?
What?
LCA Tejas: From National Triumph to an Accountability Crisis at HAL - AlphaDefense.in
LCA Tejas remains a national success, but delivery delays and leadership failures at HAL have triggered an accountability crisis
alphadefense.in
The mess created around LCA Mk1A deliveries must be openly acknowledged, not papered over. Responsibility must be fixed not to scapegoat engineers, but to address systemic leadership and decision-making failures.
Oh since when forces become a fund provider for R&D? Man this india, not Pakistan.
Military doesn't have any inhouse source of income.