What It’ll Take For India’s Tejas To Be FULLY Ready

Live video feeds from the helmet sights of three Tejas fighters enthralled an audience of officials and journalists today at Bangalore’s HAL Airport ahead of the ‘IOC-2’ ceremony that cleared the LCA Tejas for entry into Indian Air Force service. Nice touch. And unlike the IOC-1 event two years ago, the IAF wasn’t in a bad mood. On the contrary, there appeared to be genuine satisfaction. Rare stuff.
The Indian Air Force will begin receiving series production (SP) airframes from HAL over the next few months to service an order of 40 jets. The Tejas Mk.1 type now looks to achieve final operational clearance (FOC) — a milestone that signals the platform is fully ready for all intended operational profiles and performance qualities — by December 2014. Twelve short months to get a LOT of work done. But there’s splendid momentum, high morale, a smiling IAF and a supposedly no-more-nonsense MoD to drive the team over the finish line in time. Well, here’s the 12 month to-do list:
1. Expand flight envelope to -3.5 to 8G (Currently -2 to 6G).
2. 24° angle of attack (Currently 22°).

3. In-flight refuelling capability (Integration of Cobham probe complete).
4. Demonstration of Rafael ADS Derby BVR air-to-air missile.
5. Demonstration of Rafael ADS Python-5 IIR close combat missile (Related post here).
6. Completion of integration & demonstration of KBP Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 23mm cannon.
7. New design drop tanks for supersonic flight.
8. New radome to improve radar and electromagnetic performance.
9. Validate more efficient cooling system for aircraft braking assembly.
10. Additional weapons testing, including PGMs.

13 thoughts on “What It’ll Take For India’s Tejas To Be FULLY Ready”

  1. I think we should drop the idea of a 23 mm cannon on such a small fighter. I am no expert but the recoil from the cannon will be quite huge. Now a days when BVR. missiles are used why we need a cannon after all ! For ground attack role Jaguars are there.

  2. Tejas flying at low hight and shiv where are the videos ,day by day you are becoming very poor defense journo ,not even covering imp milestone

  3. Congratulation. A proud moment for Indians.
    I doubt whether the flight envelope and angle of attack can be improved within 12 months. Remaining things has to be done. Also can anybody tell this, what will be the comparable aircraft to LCA Tejas my guess MIG 21 Bison?

  4. A gun is a must for any fighter today. The Americans already made that mistake in the 1960s over Vietnam and have corrected it since then. ADA and HAL is doing fantastic work. Keep it up!

  5. so much fuss for a non functional fighter that doesnot even has a gun..what is the point of this IOC then..the ADA made so much effort to integrate LGBs on a fighter and didn't care to integrate those vwery weapons that make it a fighter….
    seriously i feel that ADA needs to sort out its priorities and focus on the air to air aspect of the aircraft more than the ground attack …after all it is to replace the venerable MiG 21 , not hte jaguar..

  6. The indegenisation of Tejas will be highlighted well when US uses its most potent weapon , called 'Sanctions'. Iy will use it at the right time when IAF;s squadrons are at an even lower strength force as the variants of 21 will start to be phased out and tejas would be supposedly be rolling in. What would be the plan then when the to be rolling in planes hit be sanctions do not get the GE engines and 21s production line hampered by the hope of ge414s

  7. @shiv
    as you had posted earlier in 2011 that the -3.5 to 8 g and 24 degrees angle of attack was to be attained by IOC -2..and now u r saying taht these parameters are to be acheived by FOC… could you kindly clarify as to what are the actual flight parameters acheived in IOC-2 and what are to be acheived by FOC.
    and gun integration must have occured way before they integrated LGBs.

  8. What is with this IAI love affair of all or armed forces..i mean whats so special in that EL/M 2032 radar that every body in the forces just loves it despite it proving problematic on the harriers.
    there are some really functional designs like zhuk me, bars 29, ps 05 which are flying in actual aircraft and not just as an brochure and we still choose the very same israeli radar that broke down when we went to evaluate it for our mig 21s.
    also the derby missile failed to reach its stated range in tests conducted by IN and still it is selected for tejas…definitely smells fishy…
    i am a hundred percent sure that hadn't the US export ban not ijn pplace for EL/M 2052 , it would be selected for mk2.

  9. It seems overly optimistic at best and pure fantasy at the worst to think a program that has been 30 years in the making, and has never met a deadline in its history will meet all the requirements for FOC by Dec 2014. The latest milestone of IOC was delayed over a month as well if you discount the years the whole program is behind.

  10. For a program 30 years in the making that has never achieved a milestone on time, it seems overly optimistic at best and pure fantasy at the worst to think that FOC will be completed by Dec 2014. Thoughts?

  11. No gun! Radome blocks radar?! Brakes catch fire?! Still at -2 and +6, when it was claimed to be a -3, +9 airframe?! AoA still at 22?! No supersonic tanks?! Combat range of only 300km, no wonder this is called the Limited Capability Aircraft, and the IAF is only ordering 40! Goes to show the airforce has no faith in it! 40 aircraft to be built in 6 years?! All this when the PAF already have over 50 JF-17s, and have commenced the next batch of 50 Block IIs.

  12. Of the above list only the gun firing may be the cause of some tension.It is a rapid firing gun ( 60 r.p.s.cyclic)and it is located pretty close to the intake unlike the MiG 21 where the same gun is used.

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