LCA Tejas Mk1 & Mk1A - News and discussions

No one makes such knee-jerk reactions, a fighter jet relationship is for 30+ years after all. The IN is still interested in the SH anyway. He believes it's gonna be a political deal for MRFA in favour of the Americans, but that's possible only with the F-35, not the teens. For the IAF, the fighter jet is more important, not the political relationship, and in the SPM, the military decides.

But yeah, the Koreans are the safest political choice for the Malaysians. Going for India will piss of the Chinese and vice versa. Plus some of their neighbours operate the same aircraft. But in terms of capabilities and technologies, the Indian offer will be ahead, especially the one coming in with the new Indian AESA radar and EW suite. Not to mention all the new weapons being developed, like the Brahmos-M, SAAW, Astra Mk3 and a new WVR missile. So it really depends on what they are looking for.

Also, at this time the Chinese are threatening the Malaysians militarily. If they plan to make a stand, then a decision favouring India will show intent.

Then there's the fact that the Malaysians also like operating some equipment which the Indians also operate. There have been discussions with Malaysia for them to be part of India's Sukhoi supply chain through HAL since 2015. So the Malaysians are the best bet for HAL to enhance their abilities as a long term supplier.

The single biggest overriding consideration you overlooked - Tejas has Israeli components, so it doesn't stand a chance of winning this tender. Isn't it ?

Irrespective of who wins, PLAAN, PLAAF cannot be deterred by Malaysia by military means. Malaysia knows this, China knows this, Korea too & so does India :)
 

HAL looking for more private sector participation in making full fledged structures in LCA-Tejas space and other defence related products


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The first central fuselage for a supersonic plane made in the private sector for indigenous single engine fighter plane Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Tejas by city-based VEM Technologies was handed over to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited here on Monday.
The carbon composite, stronger than steel, based fuselage is among eight contracted to be made by the firm involves fusion and precision of about 1,595 parts inspected at every stage before being assembled. It has also been approved by defence quality control authorities.
Five other firms are partnering in making the front and back portion of the fighter plane, avionics, landing gear, wings and the tail, said HAL chairman and managing director R. Madhavan and congratulated VEM Tech for doing an “excellent job as it was not easy and took almost five years in making including time lost due to COVID”.
“While HAL has been involved in every stage, it is not a small operation but very complicated one as it has match to other two sections plus ensure these are aligned correctly along with connections for fixing with wings and under-carriage,” he explained.
HAL is looking for more private sector participation in making full fledged structures in LCA-Tejas space and other defence related products. Aerospace eco-system sector still has a long way to go although outsourcing work began from 2011. “Right now, we are making eight aircraft a year and will double that number. We plan to make 24 aircraft a year for which we are setting up parallel production lines and will also be sourcing out more work to our partners,” he said.
The CMD expected the speed of making of structures to increase in a couple of years bringing in more efficiency into the systems. “We are looking at second and third level of outsourcing from partners to supply end products to us rather than we totally controlling the supply side. We want lead integrators so that we can do final assemblies and certification, of course the design should be with us,” said Mr. Krishnan.
The public sector giant is also looking at sectors like avionics where partners can come out with end units certified by themselves for use straight away rather than depend on foreign products. VEM Technologies chief V. Venkata Raju said the three-decade old firm with 1,300 staff, half of them into design, has been partnering with HAL for over two decades on all their major platforms. About 30 engineers and 20 technicians were trained in HAL for a year for this fuselage.
 
The single biggest overriding consideration you overlooked - Tejas has Israeli components, so it doesn't stand a chance of winning this tender. Isn't it ?

The Israeli radar can be replaced with the Uttam, which is the plan for our jets as well. HAL expects to get the Uttam from the second squadron onwards. The EW suite is being developed with Israeli help, but the ownership will be Indian. The EL/M 8222 can be replaced with a French/Indian equivalent. Even we have a similar pod being developed.

Any other Israeli component can easily be replaced with a French/Indian equivalent by the time the contract is done. Including targeting and recce pods.

The Malaysian tender has just begun, it's going to be at least a minimum of 2 years before they decide. That's plenty of time to Indianise the LCA.

Irrespective of who wins, PLAAN, PLAAF cannot be deterred by Malaysia by military means. Malaysia knows this, China knows this, Korea too & so does India :)

Deterrence is possible. Warfighting is not. PLAAF's and PLAN's forays into Malaysian ADIZ and territorial waters can easily be deterred by creating Malaysian presence, which they currently lack. LCA can help achieve that better than the F/A-50 and JF-17. For example, when the PLAAF entered their ADIZ with 16 transports, the Malaysians sent their Hawks to intercept. Would have been suicide had the PLAAF also sent in fighter jets.

The only force capable of fighting China in the area is of couse the US. But that doesn't mean ASEAN shouldn't create capabilities for deterrence.
 
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The Israeli radar can be replaced with the Uttam
Work on super Sukhoi MLU is slow due to non availability of a mature Russian AESA system.

Why do you think any nation will opt for something Indian which might be certified even 5 years down the line ?

HAL has better chance selling a civilian version of LUH and HTT40.
 
The Israeli radar can be replaced with the Uttam, which is the plan for our jets as well. HAL expects to get the Uttam from the second squadron onwards. The EW suite is being developed with Israeli help, but the ownership will be Indian. The EL/M 8222 can be replaced with a French/Indian equivalent. Even we have a similar pod being developed.

Any other Israeli component can easily be replaced with a French/Indian equivalent by the time the contract is done. Including targeting and recce pods.

The Malaysian tender has just begun, it's going to be at least a minimum of 2 years before they decide. That's plenty of time to Indianise the LCA.



Deterrence is possible. Warfighting is not. PLAAF's and PLAN's forays into Malaysian ADIZ and territorial waters can easily be deterred by creating Malaysian presence, which they currently lack. LCA can help achieve that better than the F/A-50 and JF-17. For example, when the PLAAF entered their ADIZ with 16 transports, the Malaysians sent their Hawks to intercept. Would have been suicide had the PLAAF also sent in fighter jets.

The only force capable of fighting China in the area is of couse the US. But that doesn't mean ASEAN shouldn't create capabilities for deterrence.
I highly doubt Malaysians opting Tejas. They seem to be in need of a cheap bomber fighter. Fa-50 itself uses Israeli systems unless they get APG 68 version so no aesa. Though considering Malaysian geopolitical aligning jf 17 blk 3 might actually be the best deal for them...
They obviously seem quite infatuated with the Turks and Pakistanis. Then as much as you might think but I doubt Malaysians or any of the ASEAN players are actually serious in countering China apart from Vietnam..
Jf 17 honestly seems the winner for me. Otherwise the FA-50.
Even if we get to T1 quote we will most probably lose on the L1 quote. Plus I personally don't trust the Malaysians to make good use of the Tejas they will definitely leaks some of our stuff to Pakjabis and Chinese. They honestly seem better of with the JF 17...
The country anyway is a joke. Singapore would single-handedly steam roll that country...
 
Work on super Sukhoi MLU is slow due to non availability of a mature Russian AESA system.

Not exactly. They decided to go after a Flanker AESA after the completion of the Su-57's radar. We do not know the current status of the Flanker AESA.

Why do you think any nation will opt for something Indian which might be certified even 5 years down the line ?

You mean Uttam for LCA? Why will it take 5 years? The development of the radar is already complete. Plus it has been flight tested on LCA LSPs already. All it needs is an order. HAL is expected to place an order for the IAF Uttams by the end of the year. They will be offering Uttam to the Malaysians as well.

Now LRDE is working on a GaN version which should begin flight testing by the end of 2022 or beginning 2023. It's expected to finish development by the end of 2024.
 
I highly doubt Malaysians opting Tejas. They seem to be in need of a cheap bomber fighter. Fa-50 itself uses Israeli systems unless they get APG 68 version so no aesa. Though considering Malaysian geopolitical aligning jf 17 blk 3 might actually be the best deal for them...
They obviously seem quite infatuated with the Turks and Pakistanis. Then as much as you might think but I doubt Malaysians or any of the ASEAN players are actually serious in countering China apart from Vietnam..
Jf 17 honestly seems the winner for me. Otherwise the FA-50.
Even if we get to T1 quote we will most probably lose on the L1 quote. Plus I personally don't trust the Malaysians to make good use of the Tejas they will definitely leaks some of our stuff to Pakjabis and Chinese. They honestly seem better of with the JF 17...
The country anyway is a joke. Singapore would single-handedly steam roll that country...

No American radar for the F/A-50. And there's no immediate Korean alternative, so it's only Israeli right now. A better alternative to the F/A-50 is the T-7 Red Hawk. The F/A-50 and T-7 are similar, but neither are fighter jets.

As for the JF-17, their political situation has changed quite a bit. And it's not suitable for Malaysia's tropical marine environment anyway. Only navalised jets like the Rafale or the LCA with its composites are suitable.

The LCA version expected to go for exports will be different from the IAF version.

Yeah, there's a possibility of the LCA losing based on cost, unless they consider LCC. It's obvious that our airframe and engine will allow greater cost savings over the aircraft's life cycle.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines are expected to stand up to China. All three are getting non-Chinese jets.
 
No American radar for the F/A-50. And there's no immediate Korean alternative, so it's only Israeli right now. A better alternative to the F/A-50 is the T-7 Red Hawk. The F/A-50 and T-7 are similar, but neither are fighter jets.

As for the JF-17, their political situation has changed quite a bit. And it's not suitable for Malaysia's tropical marine environment anyway. Only navalised jets like the Rafale or the LCA with its composites are suitable.

The LCA version expected to go for exports will be different from the IAF version.

Yeah, there's a possibility of the LCA losing based on cost, unless they consider LCC. It's obvious that our airframe and engine will allow greater cost savings over the aircraft's life cycle.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines are expected to stand up to China. All three are getting non-Chinese jets.
Indonesia and Phillipines I can understand since they are basically American satellite states. Malaysia for the most part is shady honestly much and more theocratic and I feel. I honestly feel Pakistanis will do the deal for them. They will negotiate. It will be similar to how Nigerians ordered the three jf-17's.
Let's see..
 
Differences b/w Mk1 FOC and Mk1A?
Aesa radar and EW suite jammers weight reduction by 1000kgs (I doubt if it's possible but even if they achieve 500kg weight reduction it will vastly improve performance), maybe few more missiles like Mica Ng ASRAAM Astra and SAAW maybe integrated, making it a kickass fighter in its class...
 
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Aesa radar and EW suite jammers weight reduction by 1000kgs (I doubt if it's possible but even if they achieve 500kg weight reduction it will vastly improve performance), maybe few more missiles like Mica Ng ASRAAM Astra and SAAW maybe integrated, making it a kickass fighter in its class...

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