A day at the hangar in HAL, Bangalore: working on a Tejas fighter - Broadsword by Ajai Shukla - Strategy. Economics. Defence.
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Tuesday, 22 July 2008

A day at the hangar in HAL, Bangalore: working on a Tejas fighter







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21 comments:

  1. Anonymous22 July 2008 at 08:34

    Great pics Ajai-ji

    Believe all that tips on photography really helped!!

    Any sneak-peek on articles coming up?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous22 July 2008 at 09:03

    So much for the "no step here" signs on wings. I always knew they were lying.

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  3. Anonymous22 July 2008 at 09:51

    Er, you cannot walk on certain portions of the wing. "No step here" typically is on areas where you are not supposed to walk on, not the entire wing itself

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  4. Anonymous22 July 2008 at 10:14

    Thanks for the Pics.

    These pics shows
    1. How complicated a a/c could be.
    2. Wing can take weight of 5 person at the least.
    3. A Live missle is put on wing where engineers still working on platform....shows confidence
    4. Shoes not allowed while working on LCA. :)

    Great Work Sir... keep them coming..

    Best regards,
    Ankur

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous22 July 2008 at 10:35

    Ankur that is not a live missile. Its a dummy which will now be part of the wing tip of the LCA. It is supposed to provide the aircraft with some sort of stability during flight. Of course it can be replaced with the real thing when needed ;-)

    Is this the two seater trainer from the previous pics?

    ReplyDelete
  6. maddy22 July 2008 at 11:09

    great pics ajai-ji
    i would like to ask some questions
    1 .is only AIR INTAKERS ARE deigned
    in properly [whther their shape or position]
    2 is wing-air intakers combo designed improperly
    iam asking these questions only by looking at TEJAS wing- airintakersand comparing with other aircrafts like grippen rafale
    because in all other aircrafts wing portion is coming from air intakers but not in tejas

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous22 July 2008 at 11:20

    It is LSP-2 number plated KH-2012, LSP series started with KH-2011. It looks like it was being prepped for its first flight from the finishing touches given to the aircraft. The rear edge of the wings where the flaps are housed are definitely "No Step", almost exactly where that gentlemen is standing. I would love to be proven otherwise.Great pictures Ajay. A word of caution though some of these pics posted may be used for psy-ops by arms dealers to prove a point or two about the "inferiority" of indigenous products and its manufacturing processes. We all know how much our services (minus the navy) love the brochures. Please use some discretion before posting them.Heck, even photo shop them if you have to, because if you don't those who oppose local products will to make their case stronger. This scourge needs to fought on all levels. As a journalist I don't have to tell you that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous22 July 2008 at 16:49

    Our engineers give new meaning to the term "Wing Loading"

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous22 July 2008 at 23:22

    Btw, that "wing loaded" aircraft flew Mach 1.1 on its inaugural flight. Speaks so much for it wings and for its control laws and kudos to the test pilot who put his life on the line there. For all the praise, I have heard , no one actually praises the test pilots who go out there everyday flying a plane whose behavior has only been partially simulated.

    On the other hand, I feel our manufacturing processes and standards really need to come upto speed. This is where I feel we need the joint ventures so that we can learn the world's best practices in manufacturing processes and maintaining standards.

    Unfortunately, aviation and space don't leave for much tolerance, In space we have already learnt it the hard way, but in military aviation which involves humans we need to be that much more careful.

    Chalta hain attitude just won't work here. The DPSUs need to be told this in no uncertain terms.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous22 July 2008 at 23:25

    Sir, I think for the first time you mention this as tejas FIGHTER. So finally tejas is graduated from being a flying machine to a flying fighter

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  11. Anonymous23 July 2008 at 01:59

    Putting all egg in one basket is not safe .Hence in case mrca goes to SH lca engine should go to EJ-200.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous23 July 2008 at 02:02

    Putting all eggs in one basket is not safe .Hence in case mrca goes to SH ,lca engine should go to EJ-200.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ajai Shukla23 July 2008 at 08:00

    This is not the LSP-2 being prepared for its inaugural flight. The photo is a recent one, taken well after that first flight.

    Don't worry about arms dealers using photos for psy ops. Firstly, this aircraft has been displayed more than enough --- in various air shows --- for all those details you mention to have already been noted.

    Secondly, what you think is a design flaw might well be a piece of brilliance that provides weight reduction; or aerodynamic advantage; or stealth. Modern fighters are not about geometric shapes.

    Thirdly, it is not arms dealers who are at the forefront of scuttling this aircraft. The people who are doing that already have all the details that they need.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous23 July 2008 at 08:17

    With so many people sitting on the wing wouldn't that alter the shape of the wing? Or it is strong enough to withstand them...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous23 July 2008 at 09:48

    before anyone suggesting typhoon & ej200 engines, I would suggest them to read through this:
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/01/eurofighter_austere_air_to_ground_what_joy/
    Important points to note:

    Tranche 1 & 2 planes might be permanently mothballed (or if you read between the lines they are looking for some suckers in the form of IAF to either sell just these engines or the whole plane)

    Secondly the cost of tranche 3 plane (multirole plane) is more than a F-22 Raptor!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous23 July 2008 at 13:46

    You are right Ajai, The maiden test flight of LSP-2 took place on 16th june whereas the EXIF data on your jpeg image of the Tejas fighter image shows that the snap was taken on 18th june at 1.28 pm. Is it LSP-3 then ? Or is it TD-1 that is being weaponised

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous23 July 2008 at 19:49

    anon @ 23 July 2008 22:18 :
    looks hilarious.. is this the same eurofighter which participates in the mrca race ??
    if iaf goes for tranche while dumping lca for underpowered engines, then that would be the most funniest moments in iaf history....

    iaf needs to learn a lesson from raf: even though raf knows that tranche can't deliver a bomb, they bought the craft so as to keep the r&d going on further developments of tranche.

    though the same lesson needs to be learned by ia too; folk over there won't understand unless taught in their own terms (spoon feed). so we should not force them to learn.

    anon @ 22 July 2008 21:04:
    doesn't look like ajai didn't take these snaps after some tips were given.. as he is smart, he bunched those poor quality photos and put there so that all criticism would be there in only one blog entry...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous23 July 2008 at 20:18

    Hi Ajai, You have any idea about the schedule of launch of LSP-3, LSP-4, Trainer Tejas and the Naval Tejas???

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous23 July 2008 at 21:16

    anon @ 23..

    When IAF asked for multi-role craft, it invariably meant tranche III or Eurofighter.

    The funny part is that the oldest designs (F16,18 and Mig 35) are the only ones with proven multi-role. Gripen and Eurofigher never had this when they applied for the contract(now both do).

    Rafale was designed specifically with multi-role in mind. It is relatively newer design, has seen real action in Afghanistan. M88 Engine is also making good strides in power and efficiency. Why is is discussed so little?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous24 July 2008 at 10:12

    It is optimistic but highly unlikely.

    1. Tranche III is just certified. it will take a while till the consortium countries got their allocated share they invested 20 years ago.
    2. Unlike saudi arabia, we only have mangoes, bananas & rice to negotiate tranche III delivery and our IT dollars won't give them any strategic edge like oil.
    3. When that machine looks cool and a lot of room for improvement (as british Air Marshal put it "step in the development of this remarkable aircraft"), there are lots of other reasons can be mentioned.

    Hey, I know for a fact that our LCA can also be called as "step in the development of this remarkable aircraft". Bot our Air Marshall will say the same or not, stays as a different issue.

    -- anon @ 23

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous4 August 2008 at 02:09

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

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