India Reinvents Obsolete F-16s

[Zabaniyah]

oh my god!

from when did f-16 became "obsolete"!?!

A lot of people do say that

 

[Alfa-Fighter]

And we know that LCA currently faces some drag and FCS issues, that's why not all of the performance specs could be achived so far.

Wrt G-limit:



Livefist: IAF Grudgingly Accepts Tejas IOC, Wants 83 Mk-IIs




No it has not and there is no need for us to claim about these things, because the Pakistani members have a fair point to say that JF 17 is ahead so far, since it is inducted into operational service!
LCA is still under development and available in numerous prototype version only. To some extend IAF is the cause for this, because they want to induct it only when all performance requirements will be met. But until that happens, we can only talk about the achievments of the LCA prototypes compared to JF 17 in operational service in PAF and testing flights in China.

So instead of silly flame baits, we should accept the current advantage of JF 17 and look forward to the time serial production and induction will be started, because then things will change since LCA already have some good advantages in several fields (you showed some of the earlier) and has the higher potential too!

I already mentioned in past post that , China made Limited Production Unit of 8 Aircraft and send to PAF for evaluation purpose but those 8 aircraft is termed as production one and make as inducted units, in 2009-2010 they are doing the weapon integration etc.
Those plane were tested by PAF , while in India those plane were tested by certifying agency and when handed to IAF it will be ready for rock n roll, more over Till not 16 ft and 1.6 mach speed test is done and planned by once inducted it will take to higher level.

 

[rissriva]

February 17, 2012: India is buying 99 American F414 jet engines, for $8.1 million each. These will be used for the new LCA (Light Combat Aircraft, or "Tejas") jet fighter. Eventually, most of the LCAs built will be powered by the Indian Kaveri engine, which is still in development hell. The F414s will substitute only until the Kaveri is ready. But the Kaveri never seems to be ready. This is a big problem.

In one of many attempts to deal with the Kaveri problem, two years ago India made arrangements with French engine manufacturer Snecma, to provide technical assistance. Criticis in the Indian air force asserted that help from Snecma would not save the ill-fated Kaveri engine program. But the government apparently believes that it is necessary for India to acquire the ability to design and build world class jet engines, whatever the cost. Only a few nations can do this, and India wants to be one of them, soon, at whatever cost. Despite decades of effort, the Kaveri is still far from ready for production.

When work began on the Kaveri, in the mid-1980s, it was believed that the LCA would be ready for flight testing by 1990. A long list of technical delays put off that first flight until 2001. Corners had to be cut to make this happen, for the LCA was originally designed to use the Indian built Kaveri engine, and the engine was not ready.

For a jet fighter, the engine is the most complex part of the aircraft, and the Kaveri has had its share of setbacks. Fortunately, there was an American engine, the GE F404 that fit the LCA, and could be used as a stop-gap. The F414 is a more recent model of the F404, and has 15 percent more thrust. So as long as the Kaveri engine is not ready, the American engine fills in.

The LCA is only now preparing to enter mass production. Six prototypes and sixteen pre-production models exist. Mass production (at least 20 aircraft a year) was to begin, no matter what, this year. Or at least that's the plan. For over two decades, India has been trying to design, develop and manufacture its own "lightweight fighter," but the project has been a major disaster. It has, however been a valuable, and very expensive, learning experience.

Meanwhile, the 1970s era American F-16 is probably the premier "lightweight fighter" in service, and began joining squadrons about the time India came up with the LCA project. Both the F-16 (at least the earlier models) and the LCA weigh about 12-13 tons. But the F-16 is a high performance aircraft, with a proven combat record, while the LCA is sort of an improved Mirage/MiG-21 type design. Not too shabby, and cheap (about half the cost of an F-16). Also, for all this time, money and grief, India has made its aviation industry a bit more capable and mature.

For all this, India only plans to buy 200-300 LCAs, mainly to replace its aging MiG-21s, plus more if the navy finds the LCA works on carriers. Export prospects are dim, given all the competition out there (especially for cheap, second-hand F-16s). The delays have led the air force to look around for a hundred or so new aircraft (or even used F-16s) to fill the gap between elderly MiG-21s falling apart, and the arrival of the new LCAs. However, two decades down the road, the replacement for the LCA will probably be a more competitive, and timely, aircraft.

Three years ago, the Indian Navy announced it was buying six of the new LCA fighters to operate from the new carriers that are to enter service in the next five years. This is an experiment to see how the LCA will do as a carrier aircraft. The first LCA carrier trials are to take place next year. The navy has already bought navalized MiG-29s for these carriers. The navy LCAs will also be navalized (mainly stronger landing gear, a tail hook and different cockpit electronics.) The MiG-29K weighs 21 tons (16 percent weapons), while the navalized LCA weighs 13 tons (34 percent of that weapons). The MiG-29 is a better fighter, but the LCA carries a little more (4 versus 3.5 tons) armament, making it a cheaper way to attack ships or land targets with missiles and bombs.

Procurement: India Reinvents Obsolete F-16s

Self confessed. Pak F 16 are obsolete... Proved

 

[Black Widow]

importing F414 engine for our LCAs will kill the whole concept of indigenous production...its better to be late than never!!

Meri Jaan, FYKI initial Rafael flew on GE engine, We are working on Kaveri and Insha allah, We will integrate it in LCA and other future fighter.. Who know Our Rafael will fly with Kaveri Engine???


Till Kaveri mature We can use GE414... Koi Shaq???

 

[chairborne ranger]

personally, i am not very fond of the LCA. it is small and looks like ****...... but at the same time, with improvements, such as the elta radar, new weapons, the ge414 engine, etc, and the future upgrades that will obviously take place it will be among the most lethal in its class, though , it will CONTINUE to look like ****...

 

[tvsram1992]

personally, i am not very fond of the LCA. it is small and looks like ****...... but at the same time, with improvements, such as the elta radar, new weapons, the ge414 engine, etc, and the future upgrades that will obviously take place it will be among the most lethal in its class, though , it will CONTINUE to look like ****...

we wont place every aircraft at border , every aircraft has its own use .

 

[sathya]

just to inform, India is buying GE414 INS6 ,..

it has 6 stages like the EDE/EPE version which has power in the range 110-125kn

its more powerful than Gripen NG s F414G with 7 stages, power 98 kn.

do you think its obsolete, ? quiet opposite..

 

[ashokdeiva]

I don;t know why people lose their sanity when they think about other nations. Here we see all three nations men doing the bravodo chest trimphing just because some one critized the other with a Opening Post.
Come on guys, is it worth to do this cheep behaviour.
we all know that the Armed forces of each of the nation is there to protect the nations interest and its land, air and sea. you guys are behaving as if these are in place to one and only one reason to some day do some invasion on the other.

 

[sathya]

^^^

 

[kingdurgaking]

First of all LCA is something we have to pride of ... it has been customized according to our needs and topography... LCA will be a hit once the FOC is achieved... While lot of technologies has been developed newly which has eaten the development time but it will pay useful in future development.. we have learnt a lot and still trying in lot of areas... No one will help in developing aircraft fearing for there business and control and definitely for a country like India it is going to be tough.. being small and looking like ***** is not a great deal... but definitely our pilots like them.. Major challenges are radar, engine , weight reduction , missile testing and few important flight tests are pending.. bundling lot of them in such a small aircraft is a great deal and that too which such a limited weight.. and we have done it in first try..

 

[Tshering22]

Jf17 is reality we hav inducted these when u hav LCA inducted then come and compare.

Urgent replacement is very different from a formal IOC and FOC.

 

[Tshering22]

we wont place every aircraft at border , every aircraft has its own use .

Well until we do, how the heck do we come to know how good it is?

I don't understand IAF's logic of putting Tejas in Sulur. South India is already damn secure with the Navy's presence there as well the the Vikrant and Vikramaditya that would manage both southwest and southeastern theatre.

OTOH we here in NE have nothing compared to the Navy's firepower that southern India has. And the funny thing is, we don't even have an enemy in southern region! While our most hostile and dangerous enemy is here in east, our fighters are majorly based in western, southern and central commands. .

How thoughtful....

 

[sathya]

^^

Dont worry buddy, your wish is getting realized with su 30mki, rafale, LCH, Artillery..

 

[sancho]

I don't understand IAF's logic of putting Tejas in Sulur.

Wasn't the first 2 Squads mainly meant for training of pilots and ground crews with the new fighter? IAF will only field the MK2 to the border regions towards Pakistan and China, since they aren't satisfied with the MK1.

 

[kurutoga]

Can we get confirmation the production of MK1 has officially started? When do you expect the first batch be delivered? Or it has been? Thx