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HAL Tejas | Updates, News & Discussions-[Thread 2]

So looking at the pic, we can say that even the design was not frozen at that time.

Not even close, in the late 80s, early 90s canard designs were being looked at.

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...-dassaults-choice-nirmala/article22794639.ece

Ms. Sitharaman was in conversation with N. Ravi, Publisher,The Hindu, on “In defence of the realm: how prepared is India?” at The Huddle.

“In the UPA [United Progressive Alliance] non-deal, HAL had clearly stated manpower, which was not accepted by manufacturer. If HAL does a deal with a private company, it is absolutely nonsense to say that it was done because the Prime Minister handpicked the company.”

N. Ram, Chairman, The Hindu Group, asked ''Is the Centre’s refusal to reveal details of the deal — as was seen in Parliament recently — a 'self-goal' for the ruling NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government as the Congress has been claiming.''

In response, Ms. Sitharaman said: “I want to answer, and it would bring satisfaction to all the people here. But it will also lead to satisfaction for our enemies ... But how many times has the UPA also sought protection under national security. We [BJP, then in the Opposition] did not express outrage on this.”

In her opening remarks, the Minister said indigenous defence procurement was being emphasised, with 120 out of 170 defence contracts being with Indian companies. “Until recently, 60% of components were imported. Now, it is 35%,” she noted.

However, responding to a question on the issues of procurement of the HAL-developed Tejas light combat aircraft, Ms. Sitharaman said that while 40 were procured by the Air Force, processes were being completed to order another 83.

“There has to be serious improvement in scaling up of production by HAL, either through outsourcing or their own,” she said.
 
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/hal-carries-out-hot-refueling-trial-on-tejas/550563.html

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Tejas Light Combat Aircraft. — File photo
Bengaluru, February 27

Inching close to Final Operational Clearance (FOC), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has carried out a hot refueling trial on the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft-Tejas, followed by a sortie at the HAL airport here.

The hot refueling cum sortie of LCA-Tejas was conducted yesterday.

The system performance during the refueling session was in-line with design requirements and was satisfactory, HAL said in a release.

In the history of IAF aircraft, LCA would be the first to fly with this unique capability of hot refueling and HAL has successfully demonstrated this on LCA Tejas LSP8 aircraft, it said. Hot Refueling is a single point pressure refueling of the aircraft with the engine in operation.

It is a process by which a fighter aircraft is refueled (in between sorties) while its engine is in operation, thereby cutting down refueling time by half and turn-around time significantly.

HAL said this capability is highly desired in combat situation, which basically puts aside the need for the pilot to park the aircraft, power down and exit the cockpit for refueling to begin. Further, with this, a major requirement of LCA Air Force Mk.1A has been achieved, the release said. — PTI
 
But identification and enrollment process for Suppliers supplying parts is going very slow.


Well, what's worse is that they havent even frozen the design, yet. It's definitely going to get airframe changes, to the point it might get canards. GE have already supplied some of the 99 ordered F414 engines, those engines are waiting on prototype airframes.
 
To get an idea of just how old the Tejas program is
View attachment 453648
This is a Tejas drawing in a book published in 1989.. almost 30 years ago.

Love the bit about satisfying IAF light close air support and AS requirements of the mid 1990s.
@Dazzler @Windjammer

With the invention of RSS FBW, a multimode radar, BVR missiles, HMDS and precision munitions, the aircraft originally designed for the IAF's CAS and AS requirements for the mid 90s never reached the prototyping stage. A more advanced aircraft reached prototype stage instead and even that has now been superseded by a more advanced version.
 
Sitharaman said the ministry has asked public sector giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to speed up production of the Tejas fighter jets. "They have been asked to look at outsourcing of work to speed up matters.
The government remains committed on the Tejas," she said, adding that the Mark-II version of the plane is being made. It will be a big leap forward, she said.

Sources said the first flight is expected next year.

The IAF had ordered 40 Tejas of Mark-1 variety, and another 83 planes of the Mark-1A (an upgraded version) are to be ordered anytime now. The IAF has asked the HAL to send in its quote. The MoD wants the HAL to make up to 18 planes per annum from its existing capacity of just eight planes per annum.

Talking about the events on the Line of Control (LoC), the Defence Minister said, "We are not allowing them (terrorists) to come in. We are eliminating them at the border. Infiltration is controlled to a large extent."
 
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