By Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 28th May 20
In a statement of confidence in the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA), the Indian Air Force (IAF) boss, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria climbed alone into the cockpit of a Tejas fighter on Wednesday, revved up its powerful turbofan engine and took off for a solo flight around Coimbatore.
Air force chiefs, including Pakistan’s recently, often go up for a spin to boost the morale of their fighter pilots. But they usually do so in twin-seat aircraft, with the squadron’s top fighter jock controlling things from the front seat. Bhadauria – a veteran test pilot who has flown multiple fighters during his 40-year career – had the confidence to fly alone.
Bhadauria’s solo flight from Sulur Air Base in Tamil Nadu marked the birth of the IAF’s second Tejas squadron – Number 18 Squadron, called the “Flying Bullets”. After the flight, the air force chief inducted into service the squadron’s first Tejas fighter, handed over by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
While the first Tejas squadron – 45 Squadron (Flying Daggers) – operates 16 Tejas Mark 1 fighters built to “initial operational certification” (IOC) standards, 18 Squadron will fly a more capable version that conforms to “final operational certification (FOC)” standards.
“Apart from all the capabilities of IOC aircraft, the FOC variant additionally comes with air-to-air refueling capability, close combat gun, additional drop tanks, beyond-visual-range (BVR) missile capability, updated avionics and flight control software suite”, stated R Madhavan, HAL’s chairman.
“The FOC variant will reduce the [Tejas fighter’s] maintenance man-hours and turn-around-time, resulting in enhanced support for IAF missions,” stated a HAL release.
HAL says 18 Squadron will receive its next two Tejas fighters in July. Two more after that are “in the advanced stages of production and testing.” HAL has also commenced training for maintenance crew for the FOC standard aircraft and positioned trained personnel with 18 Squadron.
Alongside building 16 single-seat Tejas Mark 1 fighters for 18 Squadron, HAL will also build eight twin-seat, trainer version Tejas Mark 1 fighters – four of which will go to each of the two squadrons.
After building a total of 40 Tejas Mark 1 fighters by 2023 to equip the first two squadrons, HAL will then start building 83 Tejas Mark 1A fighters for the IAF’s next four Tejas squadrons. Equipped with airborne electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and sophisticated jammers, the Mark 1A will be significantly more capable than the Mark 1.
The next capability jump will involve the production of the Tejas Mark 2. Several enhancements the IAF has demanded will make it a 17.5 tonne medium fighter –bulkier and more powerful then the 14.5 tonne Mark 1.
A major boost to the Tejas Mark 2 will come from its General Electric F-414 engine, which will be significantly more powerful than the Mark 1 fighters’ GE F-404IN engines. This will allow the Mark 2 to carry a beefy 6.5 tonnes of payload, consisting of weapons and external fuel.
If this guy is over 55 he should not be flying solo regardless of experience
ReplyDeleteHas he done previous training on a simulator for this particular aircraft?
Has he maintenance his flying skills by doing the necessary yearly hours on fighters?
Please enquire into these things, he must be sacked if he is found to breaking flying rulers, particularly if he is the Air Chief
Else this incident will contribute to the fact that we are a banana republic
construct... SBFD... shore based flat deck... start testing... Tejas...
ReplyDeleteMr. Shukla, I recall reporting from you on the LCA Tejas in the past where you expressed some concern that it wasn't clear that adding an F-414 instead of the F-404IN would result in a more powerful fighter(since the alterations required to the fighter would increase its weight)
ReplyDeleteand thereby nullifying the benefit of a a more powerful engine. Have these concerns been addressed, in your knowledge?
Sir,
ReplyDeleteFor Tejas Mark 2 any structural modification is done ?
Best regards