Troubles Slow Tejas Again

The photo above, taken at the National Aerospace Laboratory’s wind-tunnel, shows testing this year of a Tejas model with various stores configurations. With LCA Tejas final operational clearance slipping to 2014, and the programme still struggling to meet performance specs for the second phase of initial operational clearance (IOC-2), the aircraft project has dipped into another difficult phase. According to sources, several requirements (that were watered down during IOC-1 in January), are still to be met. The parameters include wake penetration certification, all weather clearance (ironically, tests were stalled because of the monsoon earlier this year) and lightning clearance. Earlier this month, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne said again that final operational clearance was delayed by a full year — moving down to 2014. Meanwhile, the first prototype of the LCA-Navy is preparing for a first flight — hopefully before New Year.

Photo / NAL

61 thoughts on “Troubles Slow Tejas Again”

  1. Just sick and tired of this game. This project is older than me and i have doubts if it will ever see the light of the day and even if it does all you know, it could have half the specifications that it set out to have. Meanwhile across the Himalayas, our dear friends are gathering strength every passing minute!

    This is bloody frustrating!

  2. DELAY – TROUBLE – TEJAS – LCA

    I still dont know what is the use of this Tejas or Late Combat Aircraft.It will be stationed at sulur air force station.Where the enemy is 2000 miles away.

    May be they want to keep this Late Comabat aircraft away from combat.

    Dont waste hard earned peoples money in the name of r&d.

    JAIHIND
    TAX PAYER

  3. Please scrap this project or declared Tejas as Technology demonstrator.

    I bet DRDO is not capable of completing it even after 2050.

    Shiv Ji, please send this message to DRDO, how much capable they are.

    Jai Hind

  4. Through all these never ending delays and development costs, What will be the end result? Its time to declare LCA a technology demonstrator and begin some concrete work on AMCA and please don't let it become another LCA. C'mon DRDO, do some meaningful work now.

  5. let us learn from LCA.Otherwise we will be slaves in the hands of Russians,Americans and all other foreigners. Have patience!!!! Patience will pay off!!! Only thing is LCA honchos should keep the LCA teams motivated!!!

  6. just scrap this project and file a case against ADA/HAL for wastege of tax payer's money[in LCA,IJT etc]. For god sake don't sanction new projest like AMCA they r not capable.

  7. ahahahahaha i used to criticise pakis for making fun of this program.. but i dont think i can anymore, this has become a joke.. by the time LCA comes out with "state of the art" technology, there will be teleportation and other countries would have established bases on other planets.. HAL and other PSUs are useless. hopefully pakis will nuke them soon!

  8. OMG! How much correct and prophetic was that very young HAL Engineer whom I met way back in year 1992 during a journey and congratulated him for then recent acceptance of LCA project and its expected completion within next 10 years.

    He laughingly replied that- "Sir, My bosses tell me not to worry, this project is not going to come-up within my whole service life."

    I was stunned and did not believe him and tried to convince him the other way round but unsuccessfully.

    Now I know how much wrong I was. Now I understand that how F-35 is daring to replace the AMCA. Now I too know that why Gripen is still flying in the skies of the advertising markets of India in expectations of the real delays of Tejas-Mk2.

    Now I know that Su-30MkI saved us and now I have to say: MMRCA where are you!

  9. I say we dump the bloody testing and shove this aircraft down IAF's throat just as the Arjun tank was done onto the Army. This bird is anyday better than the Mig-21s and Mig-27s our boys are getting killed in.

  10. If the LCAs would have been in squadron service(even 3-4 yrs ago) and in reasonable numbers,the IAF would have simply acquired more SU-30MKIs and as it is now upgraded the Mirage 2000s, Mig-29s and Jaguars instead of procuring over-expensive MMRCAs.5th GEN. aircraft like T-50s would have made up for the deficit later.A large fleet of LCAs would have replaced the Mig-21 & 27s along with the Super Sukhoi 30s.

  11. Really nobody needed to save india…god had a sypathetic look on us in the past ,present and it will continue[i wish..]in the future..so scrap this..put all these money for poor..God also will extend his look on us..

  12. The 'import lobby' is working overtime to destroy the LCA project at any cost. Agreed, there have been slippages in obtaining the initial operational clearance (IOC)on time. It's FBW control system and Glass cockpit is of contemporary design, especially as the project was severely affected by sanctions imposed by the western countries. Another setback for the LCA project was the delay in the Kaveri aero-engine from GTRE not being still ready, hence it had to make do with the GE-404 instead. Its Mk.2 version would hopefully offer enhanced performance with the more powerful GE-414 aero-engine.

  13. guyz…. LCA is a much important project for our country, we are trying this for our own, our nation's security will not be compromised because of this delay, unless creating a flaw aircraft, it is good to take some delay and have a brief study, this is just our first aircraft, so these delays are common for every country, note that we are creating all the technologies to bridge the gap between 20 decades… Srilanka is negotiating mig29's from Russia, also we have threats over our coast, so it is right to place these craft's on sulur…

  14. I have a solution — privatize the Indian aircraft industry. Govt can subsidize critical projects like LCA but the irresponsible black holes that our HAL/DRDO/NAL have become must be scrapped. They are not answerable to anyone and have displayed rank non-performance for over 50 years. It's not so much the waste but the danger that they are exposing the county to. We have obviously got it wrong, so time to change.

  15. For all the late combat aircraft losers, (aka MMRCA and Amreeki F-Fan Boyz) wait till HAL starts assembling MMRCA with screw driver TOT and "discovers" not all drawings were supplied, half the jigs are missing, parts supplied are rusted or beyond their service life and finds itself re-negotiating the MMRCA contract and have their balls sucked out dry and o btw, watch if any conflict breaks out, how these countries will be first to impose sanctions and there goes your air superiority and strategic independence.

    And you guys are the same ignorant whiners who will cry hoarse if (god forbid) any of the Tejas platform crashes saying that ADA was not careful enough. The Tejas is entering hitherto uncharted waters of high AoA testing and wake penetration tests. These are very dangerous tests and ADA mind you (not HAL) is justifiably treading a cautious path. FYI, the IJT crashed on a spin test, the SARAS crashed on a single engine flying test killing all its test crew. If a missile or a rocket fails you only lose equipment, if you lose a plane there is a very high risk of losing the pilot as well which is unacceptable.

    If you are so worried about your tax money why don't you ask your MPs to work who have wasted 6 perfectly working days of the parliament or ask the Govt. why are they subsidizing inefficiency by keeping alive the tax money eating termite called Air India ?

  16. To the Stoooooopid anonymous @ 11:40 PM, this is what you guys have been saying for the past 25 days and u still keep saying the same thing. Now cut the crap or get slapped when you come out of your campus. If you need money for survival, better go out to the streets and beg, rather than cheating millions of other Indians like me, in the name of developing Bullshit.

    You must be paid by Pakis and Chinese to keep this project going for for the next 100 years and waste tax payers money.

    I would suggest we scrap the project, stop offering free biscuits and TEA to those PSU employees (they gonna cry very bad for this u bet), deduct money from their salary every month until we get back the entire money spent on this project (along with interest), start recruiting fresh and young talent from normal colleges (not from overhyped IITs and IIMs, they are incapable to be honest) without any quota system, give preference to those guys who have passion to achieve something great for the nation even if they dont have much technical knowledge (they would always develop and learn things much quickly than those without any passion), privatise the defence sector and start offering bigger projects directly to private companies without having to compete with PSUs to avoid any potential influence exerted by them. And, more importantly, award death sentence to those in higherimportant position in the country who are proved of corruption.

  17. C,mon HAL/ADA!!!
    you have put nation to shame…
    Chinese are churning out the 5th gen JXX and we are still struggling for past two decades with a 4th gen fighter jet.
    F@#kin learn how to reverse engg the stuff than show your incompetence while developing the tech from scratch.
    Look …even pakis have a flying JF!!!
    WHY THIS KOLAVERI DI?

  18. I can see lots excuse and frustration from our Anon brothers and sister.

    My dear friend DRDO and thugs Indian Government have no effect of it.

  19. Anno said
    I say we dump the bloody testing and shove this aircraft down IAF's throat just as the Arjun tank was done onto the Army. This bird is anyday better than the Mig-21s and Mig-27s our boys are getting killed in.

    Like MoD, DRDO and OFB shoved INSASA down IA only to find after twenty years that it was such a big fraud….

    Forces have become a business for those guys… rather than defense of country.

    Shame…

  20. Think its time to give our collective hard on on LCA having a glass cock-pit a bit of a break or for that matter the indigenous space-age mastery of carbon fibre composite technology. In the case of the LCA, its like saying we invented the cart while we still havent invented the wheel.

    Three cheers to all the Gripen hating LCA fanboys. At this rate, they will have their NG Mark II before the IAF has even a compromised LCA Mk-1 in service. Hai Hind.

  21. Instead of scraping this project scrap those scientist who are responsible for this project. And everybody should remember that DRDO , HAL, ADA All are goverment undertaking areas. Its doesn't matter they are working on not they will get their salary anyway.

  22. Anyhow the pattern of delay in Tejas-Mk1 is such that it may not much affect the schedule of Tejas-Mk2. They all are like accumulated but compensating errors.

    After all we have to appreciate that the real work on Tejas could start only after 2005.

  23. Hal duds can't complete lca and make Noice about amca these shameless people have done it again I think recent crash of ajt testing pulling Hal back that's why they kept idle

  24. Under AK Antony and Pallam Raju(hardcore communists in all but name) the defence acquisition process has become nothing more than an employment generation scheme for DRDO and the Defence PSUs. The armed forces(the main reason these institutions and programs even exist) have been relegated to last place behind politicians, bureaucrats, PSU workers, scientists etc. in terms of priority.

  25. Even EF can't use… the full range of stores… even today… its bombing capability is… non existent… a paltform takes time to… mature… in all aspects… even take the case of… mirage 2k… jaguar…

  26. I started following this jinxed project when i was 17yrs old and now i am 30yrs old. What a waste of my enthusiasm god this is frustrating.. "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" by that definition DRDO is the most insane organization ever, 32yrs for arjun, 30yrs for LCA, THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT SEE A PROBLEM IN THAT?

  27. Ok!So here are we again!
    I am not sure how to feel anymore when I read the comments like- We should close DRDO/HAL…those guys are of no use, etc,etc. Thats the problem with us Indians…we have no faith on ourselves…yet we have answers to all our problems..and worst of it we have opinion about everything:tejas having problems- fire HAL/ADA scientists, INSAS not upto the standard- Close OFB, sell them to private companies. I am not sure, why we are full with self doubt, "India can never produce anything good" attitude, is it because of our colonial past? We start shievering as soon as we hear anything from across the border. Pakistan built a 700 km cruise missile & internet is flooded with comments- Pakistan missile is more stealthy, more accurate, have longer legs than our brahmos. DRDO is of no use as still they cant build a system as simple as Missile defence shield. Soon pakistan will attack us along with China & our corrupt politicians will flee, leaving us for defeat, blah, blah.
    Now, when India test fired Agni 4 missile & the comments will be like-
    Still we have reached only 3000kms!When we will reach china?
    Why the missile is shaped like a pencil? It doesn't look bad-ass like trident, etc.
    The TEL truck looks like 80's punjab body,etc,etc.

    So, my request to all readers- Please do a little research before posting such comments. just check how difficult is to build a fighter plane from scratch, what are the technologiess that we need to perfect, etc, etc. I know we can do this in much better way, but such comments will not speed things up. And in case you have so much knowledge about designing fighter planes, please help DRDO with your expertise.

  28. Anon @ 10.21

    PSUs and govt research labs function differently in India than they do in Pakistan and China. Here due to Union votebanks job security is assured for govt employees and moreover they are given preferential treatment, monopoly etc by the government in many matters including Defence R & D.

    So unlike Pakistan and China(where research labs or PSUs can lose their funding, scientists can get fired or even imprisoned etc for failure) there is no real sense of urgency. Each and every project goes on at its own slow pace with no deadlines.

    Only by tapping our private sector can we develop a world-class aerospace industry in India. Sadly the Socialist Congress(Manmohan's reputation as a reformer is media BS) will never allow that.

  29. Kartik please go out and help ADA with your sanity, if you think the problems they are tackling are so simple. Yes, not only you but the rest of us too are better off with you not being enthusiastic about the Tejas project.

    I for one don't have a problem being called a Tejas fan boy at-least we won't be outsourcing jobs or technology once the production gets underway.
    Yes the air force needs platforms in numbers and understandably gets impatient with the dragon breathing fire down our necks but the other option which is to import is not an easy one either given the fact that the MMRCA has taken about to a decade and still the contract is yet to be signed, not to mention the AJT Hawk import timelines. And for the money also you will get only screw driver technology not cutting edge stuff.And if, (fingers crossed) the IAF is finally able to sign the contract, it'll still take 36 months from then for the first platforms to arrive so go figure.

    The pride of desh SU-30 was inducted in 1998 and only last month was the first SU-30 MKI was assembled by HAL completely from raw materials stage i.e. 13 years after the first induction, and o btw, the mission computers in Su-30MKI are made in India and is derived from your much hated Tejas program, just to give you a sense of how your tax money is being used.

  30. How frustrating can it get? Privatise HAL and you will see wonders. How many more years it will take to get just the 126 fighters. Chinese are at the gate. You will soon find a dhoti shivering antony.

  31. FGFA + F35 = Problem solved.

    Why do we want to build our own aircraft anyway? It's a huge waste of money with little return. If we are spend the same money buying planes on a tender, all the arms sellers in the world will come knocking at India's door.

  32. HAVE ANYONE MET ANY DRDO, HAL, ISRO, OR ANY MAJOR TECH INDUSTRY PEOPLE?.

    DONT BE SAD TO SAY THIS IS OUR FATE….

    MAJORITY OF THOSE EMPLOYEES, OFFICIALS IN THE ABOVE PSU's DONT KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MODERN TREND AND DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY AND ARE OLD PEOPLE AGED FROM 50-60 YEARS WHO DONT CARE ABOUT MODERN TECHNOLOGY AND WORK WITH OLD SYSTEM'S KNOWLEDGE.

    I DONT THINK EVERYONE IN THESE PSU's HAVE BASIC AND UP TO DATE INFO ABOUT DEFENCE THAN READERS IN THIS BLOG.

    I WILL SAY MAKE EVERYTHING PRIVATE AND TAKE NEW TALENT IN PLACE OF THESE OLD MEN TO TEST WHAT ARE THEIR TALENTS…

    DRDO, HAL MAKES BIG NEWS IN MEDIA WHEN THEY MAKE COSMETICS, HOUSES, WATER BOTTLES FOR SOLDIERS..

    WHY MOST OF PSU'S IN INDIA ARE LIKE THIS?.

    TAKE THESE PEOPLE TO SOME DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY CENTRES IN CHINA OR AMERICA AND TEACH THEM WHAT IS MODERN TECH AND HOW TO MAKE THEM..

    THINK…THIS IS BETTER…

  33. As usual, a lot of angst over the delays in the LCA project. Very hardline stands taken, but, as always, the truth is somewhere in between. DRDO / ADA etc are not a bunch of incompetents, but neither are they the most efficient people around. The challenge is enormous,
    and obviously problems will be encountered in the design to certification process. The issue to my mind is the inability to project realistic timeframes. If the SA could ensure that he gets a correct picture from the guys working for him, he would be able to project the same to the users. The users, having been fed patently false and optimistic timeframes over and over again, have become cynical and blase. This is something which will have to be changed.

  34. well its just getting sick, how can ADA can handle AMCA if they cannot deliver LCA on time. And above all what our mig21 pilots should do. I think its much better to buy more of MMRCA winner and replace mig21. And what about IAF's losing edge over PAF.

  35. I think its time to declare LCA as technology demonstrator and start working on AMCA with help of a foreign partner, maybe Israel or French. Or else promote Indian private Industries to work along with defense Department or DRDO.

  36. i don't agree that ADA, DRDO and HAL are bunch of old guys not capable of developing Modern battle machines and technology. The problem is that we are not understanding full capability of our own people. I think that technology to flourish in an country there should be equal involvement of government and private sectors, history proves that US Defense market is so good because they utilized their industrial strength from the beginning of WW1 and filled the battlefield with their technology. Now world eying Indian defense market as recession proof sunrise industry, every defense giant in world Rolls Royce, boeing, lockheed martin and SAAB wants to open R&D in India and develop products for Indian military. Then we will blindly accept all these companies develop without thinking that its our engineers whom they are going to employ and they will the persons who will develop all technologies. I agree that these companies will bring years of experience along with them, but don't we its the time to give our private sector industries to give an opportunity to prove themselves. Just take the examples of all he foreign products that HCL have taken contract to build for Indian military under transfer of technology. I once saw report saying that Su-30mki assembled by HAL does not have the same build quality of Su-30 given to IAF by Russians. Don't we think HAL already have to much to built in there pocket. Why can't HAL give responsibility of assembling some of aircrafts to Indian private companies under their strict monitoring. Well this improve competition Indian Aerospace industry. Instead of always looking for foreign partner to develop new technologies some put your trusts in Indian private sector industries. In the beginning they may look for foreign tie ups to learn from them, but I think private sectors can adapt much faster than public sector industries. and one day it can even lead to a competitive defense market in India since India can develop good products in cheaper price.

  37. The major difficulty for Teja's induction to the IAF is that both the IAF and the DRDO is Indian, like us. Because of that they are squeezing the situation to their best. Indian military heads never wants the country become self-sufficient in producing military hardware. It will decrease their chances of foreign tours (including foreign mastis). It will decrease their chances of getting foreign cut-mon__, commissi__.Hence they change their wish list, regarding any project, every now and then. On the other hand DRDO, knowing their limitations regarding knowledge, materials and technology, wants that the project costs goes on increasing, so that the milking of the cow (the common Indian's pocket )never ends. And the political class— cleverest of all, earning from the both. Carry on guys. Loot Mother India. Loot, more loot, then much more loot. We should not never be ashamed. We are sons of Shaks, Hoons, Pathans, Moughals, Britishes, Frenches, Portugeases, Duches— the Only nation having forteen fathers. Carry on looting, don't be ashamed.

  38. HAL/ADA is a joke!
    All those scientists, engineers and technicians are a bunch of clowns and should be fired ASAP or worse, put in jail for scamming the whole nation! There are other places, like in China, where jokers like these would most likely have been executed. I mean, what these people have done is so unprofessional, it's ridiculous.

    This is completely unacceptable. And it's happening because of that typical Indian "Chalta Hai" attitude or simply because they are not qualified for their jobs. There needs to be a change; something needs to be done!

  39. Nothing really new here. Just the usual unsubstantiated rumours, most of which are several months old. Please try to do better, Mr. Aroor.

  40. Projects are carried in extreme secrecy … All that comes out are lies … who knows already we might have 3-4 nuclear subs and the news around tejas is just distraction .. all countries do that … i think Indian PSUs are doing good job .. tech is changing fast so r the requirements by the IAF its hard 2 keep up with them .. but HAL is doing great .

  41. 11:39AM,

    Yeah, no doubt every time you hear bad news it is disinformation. Stop deluding yourself.

    Even past IAF chiefs have gone on public record to call LCA the 'Late Combat Aircraft' and point out that it is delayed. Besides if it were already in service you think we wouldn't have seen pics by now? And wouldn't it be promoted at airshows considering the govt intends to market it to foreign nations to recoup the development cost?

  42. what is everybdy problem criticising the Tejas LCA ..any plane takes atleast 20 years for Full Clearance.

    Look at the Rafale/Euro..20 years is the norm ..when they can take that time why not the Tejas.Once Tejas is ready it will form an important part of the IAF.

    Does anyone believe the Mig29 we had were combatready..they were a generation behind Pak F-16A/B at the time.

  43. Tejas programme is actually not 30 years old as most people say. its design was freezed in 1990-91. with full scale funding in mid 1993. TD-1 was rolled by 1995 but couldnt fly coz of structural deficiency and problems wit fly by wire as this was for the first time that DRDO had worked on these technologies.Even Saab Gripen took as many years to develop. started in 1982, first flight in 1988 and final configuration production commenced fromn 2003. another example in Rafale, initiated in 1982, TD-1 in 1985, first flight in 1986, final operational clearance in 2004. so in all

    Tejas 1993 – 2013 = 20 years
    Saab Gripen 1982 – 2003 = 21 years
    Dassault Rafale 1982 – 2004 = 22 years.

    In both cases it took 15 to 18 years from first flight to final operational clearance for Gripen and Rafale respectively. Since the Swedes and French had full fledged industry it took 6-4 yrs for the first flight. Even LCA TD-1 was rolled by 1995 but flew 2001 because of lack of prior experience.

    Conclusion: once LCA project is completed, The AMCA Tech Demonstrator would take roughly 2-4 yrs to roll out, and this its first flight may not be delayed by 6 yrs as it happened wit LCA, because DRDO has the knowhow of the structural materials and Fly-By-Wire. So it would take less than 15 yrs for FOC.
    So i think its time to stop bashing up the DRDO guys. they have done a good job of rolling out the Jet in 20 yrs frame, which is the normal time for any Jet program. Look F-22 still has structural problems with restricted altitude flying, F-35 is still in development after 15 yrs. and these guys are far more experienced, plus they have got Budget 10 times of what DRDO has.so give our guys the deserved credit

  44. Let us first understand Tejas.

    Tejas is our first venture into plane making independantly after HF-24 Marut. but that design was done by the famous Kurt Tank,

    Tejas has new technologies which are on par with Gripen, but maybe at fraction of the cost.

    Earlier Tejas was to get GE engines but the nuclear testing at Pokhran got the engines cancelled and the project was delayed. Now this is not due to incompetence of HAL/ADA. to overcome the problem and to get the rated engine, they started to design Kaveri engine. and this project of Kaveri engine has been an expensive failure.

    Now, presently. Tejas is not in prototype stage and IAF is not fully satisfied with it, and wants to iron out few problems before it gets into inducting Tejas. Also as you are aware that Indian Navy will procure some LCA with some of their requested modifications (Naval Tejas)
    Now if you look at it.
    a) Tejas is INDIA'S FIRST SELF DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED PLANE.
    b) And there are different specifications from Both IAF and Indian Navy.

    So, making Mark 2 makes sense than producing Mark 1 and then upgrading to Mark 2 (which might be difficult or not possible in case the design is changed a lot)

    Guys, comparing Tejas to F-35 (not in technological sense)
    Both are flying and both are not operational. but on other hand the company that builds F-35 has vast experience in making planes and we have none. Both F-35 and Tejas face similar problems at present of not being upto the mark.

    Tejas is a good plane and its good experience to HAL and yes it is sort of technology demonstrator for us where we can experiement with lot of new ideas and concepts,

    So, if you are a bit more patient, I think Tejas can succeed.

    Also it depends what you want

    If tejas goes into production now, we can have
    a) A plane with lot of flaws and make it one of the most unsuccessful planes
    b) If might get more notorious than MiG-21 , (hope not)

    But if the problems are ironed out, Tejas has the chance and ability to be the backbone of IAF over the next few decades.

    Frankly I feel that AMCA was to be twin engined version of Tejas with few modifications, but with the way the project is working out, guess defence ministry oupted out of that design and went for something more conventional

    Cheers

  45. I know the gov. Employes ie HAL, DRDO. They would enter in office at 11:15 am, then would take tea for half an hour, then think – where they leave yesterday, Then plaanning…. till 1pm then lunch for 2 hour, At 3:00pm they start and should leave office at 4:45.
    Time calculated for 25 year (1:45hr/day) = 11346.25 hrs(excluding sunday)= 472 days = 1.29 yr, So calculation is that program is very fast. in such a Short period only LCA(Loda combat aircraft) can be made, gud luck HAL(Hindustani aicraft manufacturing Learning) DRDO(Desi rande Dhuma Othare)

  46. The ch-giri posts I see in these comments shames me we don't have good internet users, who have some basic education in math.

    Buy FGFA+F35 will save us money.. build LCA is waste for the tax payer.

    Now, I am thinking we don't need to attack pakis or chinese beyond our borders.. huh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  47. If Tejas is rejected by Air Force,as it appears to be probable, can it not be converted into ground attack aircraft and keep them under Army? After all the Army is crying for a brigade of attack helicopters and CAS of their own, especially since Sudarshan Shakti exercise.

  48. naval tejas was always useless. at best we would need 50 aircraft and as tejas is the first ever fighter made by India, it can't be trusted to be the front-line defense fighter. also, due to the fact the naval requirement is always lower than air-force where an indigenous aircraft can be manufactured in large numbers to act as a deterrence by numbers once the price has been brought down. delta winged aircraft without canards are difficult to land on decks due to low maneuverability.

  49. I guess non of the above commentators know any thing about developing an areal combat weapon system. LCA was made frm scratch unlike JF-17 which the Chinese copied frm Russia. Accepted that due to its single dominance in Indian aerospace industries with no private competition the Hal continues the delay. But that's no reason to blame the LCA. This aircraft is the best in its class way way better the f-16, mirage, gripen or jf-17. It is the government who should pressurise the Hal. If we stop developing combat aircrafts now it would be again a repeat of the blunder that we did in 60's by blindly buying foreign stuff. LCA has opened the way of total selfdominance, let's not walk back from it.

  50. Prranjal Shrivastav

    it's easier to comment but doing something substantial is far more difficult to spell than it sounds. let's not look behind if we want to move ahead, LCA is an asset of pride.. there are more failures than successes while trying to create a history from scratch but the best part is that THEY didn't gave upon it & THEY're still trying to make it better. do u really think that the journey from Spitfires to Hornets was just over a decade long? one must dig out tons of coal to find a small pebble of diamond, that's butt natural.

  51. Comparisons with other aircraft being trotted out above are,like empty weights of the Gripen,wrong and misleading. Time scales to full scale service is being compared with our, as of present, still, lame duck.
    The angst of all Indians has been of ADA's own making.Over the decades ADA has,to prevent corrective action-unless it is some other motive-telling everyone that "The LCA is just a round the corner". It started in 1986 when it is reported that the then Director told at an Ae.S.I. (?) convention in IIT Madras that the LCA would fly in April 1990.Note -year and month.If the funding was not ready ( another bit of clever "disinformatsiya"- ADA had even by then delayed and due to the extraordinary rates of inflation always prevalent in the Aviation Industry the original budget had blown out of the window.A fresh larger budget had to be sanctioned. It is certainly not that the prototype drawings were ready in 1986 or whatever it takes to be "in service in ten years" and waiting the release of funds .Given these circumstances the then Director had no business to say so.
    Today's Top management at ADA are flying in the wake of such actions.

    They have a tough job because if at all, a very considerable redesign will be needed to make the LCA acceptable.Just putting several new technologies together in an airframe does not make an world class fighter just as putting tomatoes,spices and onions in a bowl makes for good tomato soup.As in cooking in good engineering there had to be passion and love and that was evidently lacking

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