LCA Tejas Mk1 & Mk1A - News and discussions
- Thread starter Ashwin
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- indian defence forum
At this point, mating Uttam with Israeli EW will add to the uncertainty, and HAL may not be sure about completing it in time or what issues will emerge. Also, it would mean additional negotiation with ELTA to help with this work, which means additional time required for MoD approval, contract negotiation, work definition, and cost escalation too. With Uttam + SRK, HAL depended on DRDO to deliver on time, and DRDO depended on HAL for the test platform. HAL was busy solving issues with ELTA + Israeli EW. Engine delay did not help either. So HAL is now trying to de-risk MK1A deliveries by going for the proven combo (ELTA Radar + EW) which it just finished integrating with Mk1A.
I can understand HAL's defensive approach when all are baying for it's blood, just few months back IAF chief publicly admonished them, and followed it up with his comments just after Operation Sindoor. In such circumstances, HAL's decision is justified as the orders for the Radar and EW system has to be placed now for the 41st and later aircrafts. I think Uttam + SRK will be viable only for the follow on order of MK1A.
This is a direct fallout of the public scolding HAL got from the Air Chief recently for failing to deliver on time. He has made it clear the IAF won't accept Mk1A without full-spec capabilities (as defined in the SOP)
Uttam is a brand new system which is bound to have issues at least in the short term. Otoh, 2052 is well proven on the Jags. HAL is just not taking any chances.
I can understand their situation but this doesn't really give good message tbh if you think in a long term. If simple certification and testing for our own systems get delayed like this.
The reason why I'm calling out HAL is because of this. They should be providing the same platform to both. It is very logical to assume this is a step brotherly treatment by HAL.
I don't get the logic behind
- Two new LCA Mk1A for Israelis
- Old aircraft for DRDO
We have to humbly accept that Indigenous systems will take time
And problems will keep arising in them
And War Fighting capabilities cannot be compromised especially with the kind of technology that our enemies are acquiring
And problems will keep arising in them
And War Fighting capabilities cannot be compromised especially with the kind of technology that our enemies are acquiring
Maybe it's a FU from part of HAL on DRDO for pushing (and rightfully so) for private sector to make AMCA.
All being said. Nothing is concrete though. DRDO is still doing its own bidding and is in discussion with HAL. Nothing stops HAL from integrating Uttam + SRK in those 43 aircrafts, if Indigenous EW suite gets certified in next few months or by next year. All of this is still in the realm of media speculation. Let's see what happens in next few years. Everyone are saying IAF will order additional 97 Mk1A but I'm not really confident about it, looking at past drama.
Yes but having your own radar and ew suite is important as well. That too adds to war fighting capabilities, by localising an important part of supply chain. Let's say what if 97 additional Mk1A didn't get ordered? What will happen to Uttam & SRK developed for it? Well they can always change the radar & EW suite in phase by phase manner but won't that hamper operational capabilities of IAF? It will also increase the cost unnecessarily either way.
How many mk1a prototypes were there ? There were 2 only that are modified from mk1 FOC itself, which in turn would mean existing system vendor would have access to anyway like the aspj pod being flown on these 2 for 1-1.5 years?
If CASDIC ew suite Angad or LRDE needed a separate jet then more proto units would need to be modified ?
If CASDIC ew suite Angad or LRDE needed a separate jet then more proto units would need to be modified ?