HAL TEJAS India's indigenous multi role fighter aircraft is a single engine delta wing configuration modern 4+ gen fighter.The development of tejas is a big milestone for India as when we started the programme for our own indigenous fighter India neither had the technology nor the expertise in field of producing fighter jets.
From the very beginning LCA was planned to be a modern state of the art world class fighter . The biggest problem in developing our own light combat aircraft was that the materials which were intended to be used for making the fighter i.e carbon composites were out of India's reach . We simply did not have the technology to produce composite materials or other components like avionics , fly by wire system , flight control systems and radars etc and due to the sanctions imposed on India for conducting nuclear tests many components which had to be imported stayed out of India's reach and these materials , technologies and components had to be developed within India.This overall had a good effect as now India is also self reliant when it comes to modern composites , fly by wire systems and many important components.
AIRFRAME OF TEJAS
In TEJAS extensive use of carbon fiber composites, aluminum and titanium alloys is done . This not only helped in reducing its weight but also provided the airframe longer life cycle and decreased the number of joints . With the use of these composites the weight of tejas decreased upto 25% and also decreased the time required to assemble the aircraft as less number of joints have to be made .
ENGINE or PROPULSION SYSTEM
The only major parts which are not indigenous are its engine and radar.The original engine which was supposed to power the fighter was Kaveri engine which ended up as a failure because of its inability to perform at higher altitudes and so an AMERICAN GE F404 engine was chosen to power the fighter .The next variant of tejas , the mk2 variant will be powered by GE F414 engine which is more powerful than the one being used in mk1 versions.
AVIONICS SYSTEM
The first 20 production Tejas Mk1 equipped with hybrid version of the EL/M-2032 radar.The Tejas Mark IA will equipped with an improved version of the EL/M-2052 AESA radar being developed jointly by Elta and HAL.The Mark 2 will feature an indigenous-developed AESA ( active electronic scanned array) fire control radar named Uttam.
The Electronic Warfare suite is developed by the Defence Avionics Research Establishment with support from the Defence Electronics Research Laboratory . This EW suite, known as Mayavi, includes a radar warning receiver , Missile Approach Warning (MAW) and a Laser warning receiver system, Infrared & Ultraviolet Missile warning sensors, self-protection jammer, and flares dispenser, an electronic countermeasures suite.
VARIANTS OF TEJAS
The development cost of tejas included the production cost of the prototypes and 16 prototypes were developed for IAF version and about 4 naval versions prototypes were developed .
Other than prototypes tejas has following variants
TEJAS MK1 ( cost 24 million $)
TEJAS MK1A ( cost 41 million $
TEJAS MK2 (under development)
TEJAS MK1A NAVAL
TEJAS MK2 NAVAL
The LCA programme has not only given us a 4++ gen world class indigenous fighter but has also helped in development of several technologies. Its amazing how India was able to develop a world class multi role fighter in first attempt .Tejas will only get better and better with time and maybe some day it will be the best fighter in its category.It will help in securing our borders and strengthening our armed forces .Tejas which itself means " RADIANT" has a bright future .
From the very beginning LCA was planned to be a modern state of the art world class fighter . The biggest problem in developing our own light combat aircraft was that the materials which were intended to be used for making the fighter i.e carbon composites were out of India's reach . We simply did not have the technology to produce composite materials or other components like avionics , fly by wire system , flight control systems and radars etc and due to the sanctions imposed on India for conducting nuclear tests many components which had to be imported stayed out of India's reach and these materials , technologies and components had to be developed within India.This overall had a good effect as now India is also self reliant when it comes to modern composites , fly by wire systems and many important components.
AIRFRAME OF TEJAS
In TEJAS extensive use of carbon fiber composites, aluminum and titanium alloys is done . This not only helped in reducing its weight but also provided the airframe longer life cycle and decreased the number of joints . With the use of these composites the weight of tejas decreased upto 25% and also decreased the time required to assemble the aircraft as less number of joints have to be made .
ENGINE or PROPULSION SYSTEM
The only major parts which are not indigenous are its engine and radar.The original engine which was supposed to power the fighter was Kaveri engine which ended up as a failure because of its inability to perform at higher altitudes and so an AMERICAN GE F404 engine was chosen to power the fighter .The next variant of tejas , the mk2 variant will be powered by GE F414 engine which is more powerful than the one being used in mk1 versions.
AVIONICS SYSTEM
The first 20 production Tejas Mk1 equipped with hybrid version of the EL/M-2032 radar.The Tejas Mark IA will equipped with an improved version of the EL/M-2052 AESA radar being developed jointly by Elta and HAL.The Mark 2 will feature an indigenous-developed AESA ( active electronic scanned array) fire control radar named Uttam.
VARIANTS OF TEJAS
The development cost of tejas included the production cost of the prototypes and 16 prototypes were developed for IAF version and about 4 naval versions prototypes were developed .
Other than prototypes tejas has following variants
TEJAS MK1 ( cost 24 million $)
TEJAS MK1A ( cost 41 million $
TEJAS MK2 (under development)
TEJAS MK1A NAVAL
TEJAS MK2 NAVAL
The LCA programme has not only given us a 4++ gen world class indigenous fighter but has also helped in development of several technologies. Its amazing how India was able to develop a world class multi role fighter in first attempt .Tejas will only get better and better with time and maybe some day it will be the best fighter in its category.It will help in securing our borders and strengthening our armed forces .Tejas which itself means " RADIANT" has a bright future .
Very nice info hitesh
ReplyDeletety niranjan ..... stay tuned for more upcoming posts
DeleteVery nice info hitesh
ReplyDeleteNice info hitesh dude. But i want more pics to better understand .
ReplyDeleteok hemant i will keep that in mind and ty for your valuable advice . i will surely try to consider it
ReplyDelete