NAL Saras : Updates & Discussions

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The CSIR-NAL #Saras PTIN during the 35-min maiden flight .
 
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Amal said:
Tractor config & high straight wings ? How come ? Have they given up the obsession for being 'unique' ? Or was this proposed by their new partner HAL ?

This should have been Mk1 Saras. But leave it to our R&D orgs to turn any project into a 'technology demonstration' program.
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Ironic how we have chosen a tractor configuration for Rustom/Tapas and not for Saras/RTA. We have done the opposite of the global standard. When did HAL join in ?

The slides in this thread says Saras MK-2 is going to be production ready by 2022 :

Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA-70) of India : News & Discussions

Aero India 2019: Second Webinar By Speaker - Sh Jitendra J Jadhav, Director, CSIR-NAL Regional Transport Aircraft of India
www.strategicfront.org www.strategicfront.org
 
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Gautam said:
When did HAL join in ?
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From NAL AR 2019-20 says so.

Subsequent to the approval of Saras Mk-2 project (19 seater LTA), the work on design & development activities towards performance optimization of aircraft configuration was taken up on priority to meet user/airlines requirement. Another memorable occasion was during Wings India 2020, a MoU was signed between CSIR-NAL and HAL for design, development, certification, production and life cycle maintenance of SARAS Mk-2 aircraft.
 
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Amal said:
From NAL AR 2019-20 says so.

Subsequent to the approval of Saras Mk-2 project (19 seater LTA), the work on design & development activities towards performance optimization of aircraft configuration was taken up on priority to meet user/airlines requirement. Another memorable occasion was during Wings India 2020, a MoU was signed between CSIR-NAL and HAL for design, development, certification, production and life cycle maintenance of SARAS Mk-2 aircraft.
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Nice. This is good news actually. HAL may not be the best they can be, but they do have experience in running the Do-228, Tejas and other production line running. HAL also has good experience in life cycle maintenance of multiple Indian and foreign aircrafts. NAL had none of that. With HAL onboard the future of Saras Mk2 is a little more brighter.

The engine is likely to be imported. This is a good opportunity for HAL to do what they did with the Dhruv. Initial models used imported engines, later models had the Shakti engine. HAL has a turboshaft engine in development, turboshafts are not very different from turboprops.
 
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Gautam said:
Nice. This is good news actually. HAL may not be the best they can be, but they do have experience in running the Do-228, Tejas and other production line running. HAL also has good experience in life cycle maintenance of multiple Indian and foreign aircraft. NAL had none of that. With HAL onboard the future of Saras Mk2 is a little brighter.

The engine is likely to be imported. This is a good opportunity for HAL to do what they did with the Dhruv. Initial models used imported engines, later models had the Shakti engine. HAL has a turboshaft engine in development, turboshafts are not very different from turboprops.
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NAL is a lab under CSIR. HAL is a manufacturing corporation majority-owned by the ministry of defence.

There is no comparison. NAL's budget is minuscule. Under HAL there are multiple labs with better resources.

That being said, HAL exists to serve defence forces, not civilians. Civil projects have very different certification requirements. Very different sales and support process. Spending time and money on those should be least of their worries.

IMO, Even if they want to they won't be able to capture the civil market against nimble efficient and resourceful private MNCs. No level of tax breaks won't be enough.

We need a new civilian aerospace manufacturing company driven by private investment and state support. Acquiring a company like Embraer would be a shortcut.
 
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Ashwin said:
NAL is a lab under CSIR. HAL is a manufacturing corporation majority-owned by the ministry of defence.

There is no comparison. NAL's budget is minuscule. Under HAL there are multiple labs with better resources.

That being said, HAL exists to serve defence forces, not civilians. Civil projects have very different certification requirements. Very different sales and support process. Spending time and money on those should be least of their worries.

IMO, Even if they want to they won't be able to capture the civil market against nimble efficient and resourceful private MNCs. No level of tax breaks won't be enough.

We need a new civilian aerospace manufacturing company driven by private investment and state support. Acquiring a company like Embraer would be a shortcut.
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I fully agree. HAL should not enter civilian segment but the alternative to that is to create a Private - Public partnership with a private entity who will do the manufacturing of the civilian versions of Saras, ALH & LUH.
 
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