Hello Paksanity mate! I first want to point out that I jumped from your invite to writing,
in other words, I skipped the answers given above so I may be repeating prior opinions.
I always have avoided relying on airshow perfs to rate an aircraft due to IRL discrepancies.
Airshow demos are not representative of combat missions. Quite the contrary, they tend to
downplay some war abilities in favour of impressive maneuvers, impressive from the ground
that is. Airshow configs are at best representative of air policing, sometimes not even that.
Add safety reasons as limiting factors to an all-out flight and you're left with precious little.
Of the showing off motivations, one can note that IAF displays include pre-set elements that
are obviously meant to please the crowds which is normal but not at all combat related. Fin-
ding these in the Tejas Bahrain video, I can't help but subtract them and advice others not to
base conclusions from them. The JF-17 PAF displays are a bit more telling.
In this case, specifics begin with temperature : the Thunder flew on a cloudy 20
ish celsius day
in Paris while the LCA got a tad more sun and warmth aplenty. Not comparable.
Then the Thunder is more mature which brings more abilities. Many Pakistani pilots flew it and
could deliver more assured presentations whereas Tejas pilots are still in the learning process
as far as pushing the envelope on their machine.
Last but not least, the LCA is yet to be judged as a fighter and it's more than likely that some of
the routine's elements were chosen to gain approval, going as far as possible to achieve it. The
Thunder's display is more affirmed due to multiple presences at other shows, more coherent.
Further details confirm those differences. Pre-set elements mentioned above show in straight low
level passes and vertical climbs in Bahrain with restraint in performance accepted to woo the crowd.
In reverse, some turns are well below the promised high values of AoA and bleeding energy.
BTW, I used this vid as a complement :
http://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/English/index.jsp?pg=videoplay.jsp&vn=video/lca-22012016-3.mp4
Does that mean the Tejas is worst than either the Thunder or expected? Not really!
IMHoO, it simply stems from different aims that result from the different stages those ACs are in.
The Thunder is an active aircraft while the Tejas is still on the threshold between development &
operational status. PAF, PAC and CAC only need to regularly show up at shows to maintain the
image of their product. Crisp demos with casual control give an aura of professionalism and po-
tential buyers get used to this little plane that could being on the list.
DRDO and GoI on the other hand need to establish their fighter which requires caution. Do you
show everything to confirm perfs? Is that even possible on a plane that has development left to it?
Or do you just complete a first foreign soil display and be happy that it shows virtual projection
capacity as attained? Something like : - Mature maybe not but able enough.
There are to my eye, many small bits of doubt on max. metrics for the LCA from that single presence
in an international ( not Indian soil / Aero India ) airshow but I can't guarantee the understanding to
be derived from this without knowing the limitations in parameters forced on that display.
So if I did judge both ACs from these two vids, of course, I'd go for the clearly mature one. But again,
I recommend against drawing too definite assumptions from just that.
Last but not least, the 2 planes have very different roles in their respective air forces. PAF wants JF-17
as their second tier fighter and their goals set is centered on type evolutions, going further tomorrow.
The IAF is being handed the Tejas regardless of any appreciation it may hold of it simply because the
project as a huge national endeavour must be pushed to fruition to offset the immense time and cash
resources already invested. And yet, their top tiers are MKI and hopefully Rafale? What I'm suggesting
is that once again, the two are not comparable even in their place in their respective AFs' Order of Battle.
So yes, the Thunder displays are better but it's too early to tell how much of that will keep when the Tejas
is mature from airshow videos. For now, LCA program managers are probably happy with their first step
in that realm simply because it happened. Once their baby has notched a few more on its belt, face to face
comparisons will hold more water.
Have a great day, Tay.
.
