Tejas Variants - PAST , PRESENT & FUTURE

TEJAS (ALL PAST ARTICLES IN LINK) is India's 2nd fighter jet and India's first indigenously designed fighter designed by ADA or AERONAUTICAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY & produced by HAL. 

We have covered Tejas and its history and misconceptions etc in previous blogs so wont will not stick to that but here we will discuss all the Tejas variants, the one's present and one we will see in future & also what they lead to.

•  Tejas mk1 was the initial version of tejas, 40 Tejas mk1 were ordered by IAF in 2 batches of 20 IOC and 20 FOC aircrafts. Earlier it was supposed to be 16 SS IOC + 4 IOC TRAINERS & 16 FOC SS + 4 FOC TRAINERS but due to delays in finalising the parameters of Tejas trainers it was later agreed that all 8 tejas trainers will be FOC configuration and will be delivered at last.

Though most of the electronic and systems but there are few upgrades and enhancement in the FOC version. Whats common in Tejas mk1 is that it uses upgraded Elta 2032 radar system which has been worked on by both ISRAELI & INDIAN side.

The difference in FOC & IOC mk1 is that the FOC aircraft has a bigger flight envelop while the IOC flight envelop was somewhat  restricted but now as per the latest news the software of IOC has been upgraded and they utilise the entire flight envelope of the design. Other imp changes in FOC are

- FOC aircrafts have fixed IFR PROBE for a2a refueling

- FOC aircraft have gun which even though have not completed the trials but is undergoing them

-FOC aircraft canopy is thicker

-FOC aircraft are BVR capable and uses I-Derby bvr missile and astra integration in future.

- FOC aircraft also is easier to maintain and more maintenance friendly

•N-LCA MK1 is the naval variant of LCA which is capable of STOBAR operations from Indian aircraft carriers. It is much different from the IAF version as it has a more rugged landing gear designed for carrier ops, also it uses LEVCONS or LEADING EDGE VORTEX CONTROLLERS and is the only fighter other than su 57 which uses these. These are like canards but unlike canarda which are seprate from main wings, this control surface is an extension to the main wing. In 2020 JAN the N-LCA successfully carried out AC landings and take off putting India into a list of nations who have their own AC operable fighters. There is still a debate relates to NLCA induction in navy as navy from day 1 wished for N-LCA mk2 which would sport a higher thrust engine and its explained in this POST ( link)

•Tejas MK1A is an upgrade which was proposed to the original mk1 and a plug gap between MK1 & what was envisioned back then as the MK2 ( ge f 414 engine variant) but since then a lot has changed and mk1a was proposed by HAL without taking ADA onboard. HAL wanted to upgrade the mk1 with advanced electronic & sensors while keeping the same size of the mk1 fighter & convert it into a proper 4.5 gen LCA with all necessary upgrades to make it on par with other fighters. The approval of 83 MK1A tejas was given recently with a FORMAL  contracts signing in AERO INDIA. 83 MK1A = 73 SS MK1A and 10 trainer jets possibly mk1 foc configuration

The major changes in MK1A are

-MK1A uses an AESA radar which is Elta 2052 AESA radar but there are plans to have INDIGENOUS UTTAM AESA  radar in the later batches of Tejas mk1a when it completes all trials and goes into production

- As tejas is LCA the aircraft is small and has space limitations and hence it doesnt have sufficient space for EW systems within and this was a problem with mk1, to solve this issue tejas mk1a will have Israeli ELL 8222WB EW suit

-The jet will be further made user and maintenance friendly and the weight balancing and ease of LRU replacement done to further boost serviceability of the aircraft.

The first batch of tejas mk1 will be delivered within 36 months of the contract signing so by 2024 and HAL which is lead integrator will deliver 20+ aircraft a year which means by 2028 all aircrafts should be delivered to IAF.

•TEJAS MK2 / MWF  - the mk2 although named tejas is a completely different league of fighter which is upsized and upgraded. The jet will not be a light but a medium combat aircraft and its finalised design will be showcased in  AERO INDIA with minor twerks and changes to the previous model which were showcased. It will be powered by a bigger GE F 414 engine which produces near 100 KN of thrust but there are chances that it will in future use a different engine possibly a higher thrust Indian engine which will be developed as per a JV ( ongoing discussions)

Like the mk1 was supposed to be a mig 21 replacement, the mk2 is supposed to replace multiple medium category fighters of IAF which include jaguar, mig 29 and mirage 2000 fleet which will by 2030's start retiring despite being upgraded.

MK2 will have Indian Uttam aesa derivative and will also be a testbed for future AMCA technologies. The larger size will give it longer range and near twice the payload capacity than the tejas which has a 3.5-4 tonne payload capacity while the mk2 will have 6500+ kgs of payload capacity.

It will also have sufficient internal space for EW suit alongside avionics and systems upgrades and also an IRST sensor which will give it unmatched passive detection capabilities ( indigenous IRST program working on su 30 irst replacement).  

Unlike mk1 dec cycle the mk2 dev will be done much more fluidly, there will be no TD stage and 4 prototype will be built for testing and evaluation. Metal cutting for 1st prototype has started and by early 2023  first mk2 prototype will be produced and by 2027 end testing will be completed if timelines are met. IAF is committed to buying about 170 TEJAS MK2 aircrafts.

• TEDBF/ORCA - TEDBF ( Twin engine deck based fighter)/ ORCA ( OMNIROLE COMBAT AIRCRAFT) is a further development of single engine tejas and it is a twin engine variant of it. It being twin engined has some major design changes and is proposed by and  for primarily NAVY as TEDBF but in future if done might have an airforces version ORCA. As we know navy always wished for a 2 engine fighter for operational safety and requirements the TEDBF was proposed. It is in preliminary stages and if a green light is given it will be developed only by 2030 but is the best bet for  future Indian naval fighter.

•AMCA - AMCA is the first Indian 5th gen fighter aircraft project and it will be created in 2 blocks or versions with timelines as follows. A

-AMCA MK1 will be the basic AMCA which will be developed & evaluated by 2030 and will enter production in 2030, it will have a short production run of 40 aircrafts. The AMCA mk1 will be powered by inferior ge f 414 engines.

-AMCA MK2 will be the main 5.5 gen fighter and will use better indigenous 110 kn thrust class engines which will be developed by then. It will have the sensor fusion and all the critical technologies that any state of the art aircraft will have in that time.