anup
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2013 was a Excellent year for Tejas not only it was awarded IOC-2 , Tejas team successfully carried out more then 500 accident free test flights and multiple flights on same day by same Aircraft which has increased reliability and maintainability of the Tejas aircraft with normal crew , Gone are the days when after each flight, aircraft could be stripped down for checks and could take weeks for next flights .
But Tejas has a still long way to go before it can be awarded Final operation clearance ( FOC) which is just 10 months away from FOC deadline , ADA is currently carrying out required modification on at-least 3 Tejas aircrafts to make them FOC compatible and will soon restart fresh trails soon .
idrw.org with help of its sources and media reports have put together 10 crucial tasks which Tejas will require to be awarded Final operation clearance ( FOC) , one of the first crucial requirements which IAF terms ” Non-negotiable ” is the expanding the flight envelope , at present Tejas has been tested up to -2G and 6G , which will be further expanded to -3G and 8G , flight-control software will be upgraded to remove the earlier limitations which was in for safety purpose , airframe already is capable of pulling higher Gravitational pull and does not require airframe modification .
Second requirement and a very crucial one will be for Tejas to clear 24 Degree Angle of Attack ( AOA ) which presently stands at 22 Degree again does not require airframe modification but more to flight-control software and very crucial aspect for an aircraft in a close combat Dog fight with enemy aircraft , Third requirement will be to increase the flight range of the Tejas which means addition of In-flight mid air refuelling probe , sources have in past have confirmed to idrw.org that Tejas LSP have all adequate Piping and plumbing in place for integration of air refuelling probe , ground based tests have already been carried out successfully , DRDO along with British manufacturing company Cobham plc already has developed Fixed and Retractable Air to Air Refuelling Probe but it is still unclear if Tejas MK-1 will be integrated with Fixed or Retractable Air to Air Refuelling Probe.
Fourth and Fifth requirements for Tejas FOC will require Integration of new Air to Air Missile . Tejas under IOC-2 requirements already cleared integration and testing of Russian made WVR ( Within Visual Range ) R-73 missile but for Tejas to be granted FOC it will also require demonstration and clearance to operate BVR ( Beyond Visual Range ) missile which is Israeli made Derby and another WVR ( Within Visual Range ) Israeli made Python-5 , Radar of Tejas which has received large Israeli technological input will require less time to Integrate Israeli missile as per Defence Analyst Vinayak shetty . sixth crucial piece will be to integrate Russian made Powerful, fast-firing six-barrelled Gryazev-shipunov GSH-23mm cannon .
Seventh requirement will be to test new HAL made fuel drop tanks capable to fly at Supersonic speeds , drop tanks currently used by Tejas which is also made by HAL are only cleared for Subsonic flights and new drop tanks will be Aerodynamically enhanced to reduce drag for supersonic flights , HAL in past had some serious issues with Quality of drop tanks , apparently those tanks had developed fuel leaks due to poor workmanship on them , HAL seems to have fixed that issue and hope fully those issues will not surface in new drop tanks .
Eighth Requirement will be new Radome with better make for improved radar performance , ADA already has asked for Expression Of Interest’ [EOI] for the ‘Design, Development and Manufacture of new Radome for LCA , ADA will test new radome for performance improvement with its own currently used radome and if New Radome is found Better only then it will assign a Indian production agency to manufacturing them .
Ninth improvement asked by IAF is new cooling system for Brakes and last task for FOC will be to clear some new air to Ground PGMS and un guided bombs which according to sources will be covered under new weapons tests to be conducted soon .
Source:- Tejas FOC : Miles to go | idrw.org
But Tejas has a still long way to go before it can be awarded Final operation clearance ( FOC) which is just 10 months away from FOC deadline , ADA is currently carrying out required modification on at-least 3 Tejas aircrafts to make them FOC compatible and will soon restart fresh trails soon .
idrw.org with help of its sources and media reports have put together 10 crucial tasks which Tejas will require to be awarded Final operation clearance ( FOC) , one of the first crucial requirements which IAF terms ” Non-negotiable ” is the expanding the flight envelope , at present Tejas has been tested up to -2G and 6G , which will be further expanded to -3G and 8G , flight-control software will be upgraded to remove the earlier limitations which was in for safety purpose , airframe already is capable of pulling higher Gravitational pull and does not require airframe modification .
Second requirement and a very crucial one will be for Tejas to clear 24 Degree Angle of Attack ( AOA ) which presently stands at 22 Degree again does not require airframe modification but more to flight-control software and very crucial aspect for an aircraft in a close combat Dog fight with enemy aircraft , Third requirement will be to increase the flight range of the Tejas which means addition of In-flight mid air refuelling probe , sources have in past have confirmed to idrw.org that Tejas LSP have all adequate Piping and plumbing in place for integration of air refuelling probe , ground based tests have already been carried out successfully , DRDO along with British manufacturing company Cobham plc already has developed Fixed and Retractable Air to Air Refuelling Probe but it is still unclear if Tejas MK-1 will be integrated with Fixed or Retractable Air to Air Refuelling Probe.
Fourth and Fifth requirements for Tejas FOC will require Integration of new Air to Air Missile . Tejas under IOC-2 requirements already cleared integration and testing of Russian made WVR ( Within Visual Range ) R-73 missile but for Tejas to be granted FOC it will also require demonstration and clearance to operate BVR ( Beyond Visual Range ) missile which is Israeli made Derby and another WVR ( Within Visual Range ) Israeli made Python-5 , Radar of Tejas which has received large Israeli technological input will require less time to Integrate Israeli missile as per Defence Analyst Vinayak shetty . sixth crucial piece will be to integrate Russian made Powerful, fast-firing six-barrelled Gryazev-shipunov GSH-23mm cannon .
Seventh requirement will be to test new HAL made fuel drop tanks capable to fly at Supersonic speeds , drop tanks currently used by Tejas which is also made by HAL are only cleared for Subsonic flights and new drop tanks will be Aerodynamically enhanced to reduce drag for supersonic flights , HAL in past had some serious issues with Quality of drop tanks , apparently those tanks had developed fuel leaks due to poor workmanship on them , HAL seems to have fixed that issue and hope fully those issues will not surface in new drop tanks .
Eighth Requirement will be new Radome with better make for improved radar performance , ADA already has asked for Expression Of Interest’ [EOI] for the ‘Design, Development and Manufacture of new Radome for LCA , ADA will test new radome for performance improvement with its own currently used radome and if New Radome is found Better only then it will assign a Indian production agency to manufacturing them .
Ninth improvement asked by IAF is new cooling system for Brakes and last task for FOC will be to clear some new air to Ground PGMS and un guided bombs which according to sources will be covered under new weapons tests to be conducted soon .
Source:- Tejas FOC : Miles to go | idrw.org
