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

[MirageBlue]

Thanks, but I must admit from all report I read including several ones from highly respected and most reliable sources, all say, that NONE of these mentioned Tejas is actually ready and it all depends on what you define on "soon" or "shortly".

Even the report itself says so:

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SP-17 has been flying. 3 Customer Acceptance Flights were supposed to have happened, before handing over to the No.18 Squadron and that might have already been done.

SP-18 was conducting Engine Ground Trials several days ago as per sources. SP-19 and SP-20 are not yet ready and might take a few more months to be handed over.

I would expect SP-17 and 18 to be the ones that get handed over and begin operations.

There may also be fighters shared or transferred between No.45 and No.18 Squadrons. Both are based at Sulur AFS, so No.45 Squadron could hand over a couple of it's fighters temporarily to No.18 for them to begin ops.

Wing Cmdr Manish Tolani, who is the new CO of No.18 Squadron was the Flight Commander of No.45 Squadron till a few weeks ago.

SP-17 (without the IFR probe this time) coming in to land

Picture courtesy, Grp Cpt HV Thakur (retd.), HAL test pilot

 

[Deino]

SP-17 has been flying. 3 Customer Acceptance Flights were supposed to have happened, before handing over to the No.18 Squadron and that might have already been done.

SP-18 was conducting Engine Ground Trials several days ago as per sources. SP-19 and SP-20 are not yet ready and might take a few more months to be handed over.

I would expect SP-17 and 18 to be the ones that get handed over and begin operations.

There may also be fighters shared or transferred between No.45 and No.18 Squadrons. Both are based at Sulur AFS, so No.45 Squadron could hand over a couple of it's fighters temporarily to No.18 for them to begin ops.

Wing Cmdr Manish Tolani, who is the new CO of No.18 Squadron was the Flight Commander of No.45 Squadron till a few weeks ago.

SP-17 (without the IFR probe this time) coming in to land

Thanks for your reply but that is all irrelevant to the original discussion:

Certain members claimed repeatedly all four SP-aircraft were attending the ceremony and handed over and my reply was that this is wrong by all information I have.
That these three are in various stages of testing and delivery might be fine, but it only proves they were not handed over yet.

 

[MirageBlue]

SP-18 (formerly called SP-22) roll out. Factory fresh.Will be the second Tejas handed over to No.18 Squadron.

Image courtesy Anantha Krishnan.


Big day for IAF, HAL as new Tejas Squadron takes off today

Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria in a MiG-21UM, probably during his sortie at Srinagar AFS with the CO of No.51 Squadron 'Sword Arms' that flies MiG-21 Bison fighters.

...
As a testimony to IAF’s support and confidence in the indigenous fighter and also to boost the morale of the young squadron, the CAS might fly the Tejas during the occasion. He has been a long-standing supporter of the program and knows the nuances of Tejas right from it's early years. Ever since taking over as the CAS, he has been vocal about IAF’s support for all indigenous programmes.

...

“We are committed to the Tejas programme and all its variants. As I have reiterated to you earlier, the induction of the second squadron is sure to boost the operational utilisation of Tejas. To achieve our goals and to see the complete operational utility of Tejas, we will need these fighters in large numbers.

..

 

[Deino]

But don't get me wrong ... it is all again "WILL BE" and not as some claim "they are already handed over"!

 

[MirageBlue]

Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria flew a Tejas single seater today to mark the resurrection of No.18 Squadron.

IAF chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria flew a Tejas jet this morning. Photos just in from Sulur where the 2nd LCA squadron is being raised.

Twitter link

Can see the mount for a GoPro inside the cockpit.

 

[MirageBlue]

But don't get me wrong ... it is all again "WILL BE" and not as some claim "they are already handed over"!

And what's the big point that you're making with all this "oh they will be handed over and haven't been handed over" !?

SP-18 will fly soon and in a month will be handed over to No.18 Squadron. And so on it'll continue. Whether they get 4 now or in a 3-4 month period is irrelevant.

 

[Nilgiri]

But don't get me wrong ... it is all again "WILL BE" and not as some claim "they are already handed over"!

Cmon friend let us be, its desi approach lol. Make names and entities first, arrange stuff in due time.

You are too Prussian-style and ordered ...you guys have to live in stifling tropical heat for 1000s of years to know this stuff better haha.

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

Brilliant article by AK Ananth Krishnan,
Big day for IAF, HAL as new Tejas Squadron takes off today
https://english.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/2020/05/27/tejas-squadron-indian-air-force-sulur.html

The ceremonial key handed over to OC 18 Sqn, Grp Capt. Manish Tolani.

 

[The Maverick]

Oh my god
How good does the final operation tejas look in background

I'm delighted Indians are going mix bag of
Indengious tejas kitted out with USA engines and Israeli technology and having force multipliers with the world class rafale.
All backed up by a formidable fleet of su30mki

 

[kmc_chacko]

"The next two fighters Tejas SP-22 and Tejas SP-23 are expected to join Flying Bullets in the next one Month"

Brilliant article by AK Ananth Krishnan,
Big day for IAF, HAL as new Tejas Squadron takes off today
https://english.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/2020/05/27/tejas-squadron-indian-air-force-sulur.html

The ceremonial key handed over to OC 18 Sqn, Grp Capt. Manish Tolani.

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

The other patch also looks cool!

You can see the shadows of the Gnat, Ajeet and MiG-27 on the right as well!

 

[xeuss]

Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria flew a Tejas single seater today to mark the resurrection of No.18 Squadron.

Pardon my ignorance. But what does "resurrection of No.18 Squadron" mean? This squadron existed in the past but is now defunct?

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1265657218084585472

 

[xeuss]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1265657218084585472

Damn - forgot about the Ajeets. What happened to them? All decomissioned?

 

[MirageBlue]

Damn - forgot about the Ajeets. What happened to them? All decomissioned?

Long ago. By the mid 1990s they were all gone.

Multi-faith prayer ceremony. Only SP-17 was handed over to the squadron and no other jets.

Pardon my ignorance. But what does "resurrection of No.18 Squadron" mean? This squadron existed in the past but is now defunct?

When a squadron's aircraft are retired and all it's assets handed over, it is "Numberplated". That means that the squadron is no longer active.

When a squadron needs to be reinstated, it is termed as resurrection. The activation of a squadron that was previously numberplated is what the term refers to.

SP-18. The second Tejas FOC fighter that will be handed over to No.18 Squadron

Another squadron patch posted on Twitter, slightly different from the one worn by ACM RKS Bhadauria.