Tejas 1983: A dismal failure which became obsolete in the design phase
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Bharat’s LCA program had the following two objectives.
- The LCA programme was launched in 1983 for two primary purposes. The principal and most obvious goal was the development of a replacement aircraft for India’s ageing Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (NATO reporting name ‘Fishbed’) fighters. The MiG-21 has been the mainstay of the Indian Air Force since the 1970s, but the initial examples were nearly 20 years old by 1983. The “Long Term Re-Equipment Plan 1981″ noted that the MiG-21’s would be approaching the end of their service lives by the mid-1990s, and that by 1995 the IAF would lack 40% of the aircraft needed to fill its projected force structure requirements.[7] ((15 August 2006). Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). Global Security. Retrieved 25 August 2006.)
- The LCA programme’s other main objective was to serve as the vehicle for an across-the-board advancement of India’s domestic aerospace industry. Sukumar R. (March-April 2001). LCA: Impact on Indian Defense. Bharat Rakshak Monitor.
On both these counts, the Tejas has been a colossal failure. The Tejas has been unable to replace the “Flying Coffins” which are still flying and the Tejas has been unable to create a domestic aircraft industry. The recent tender for $10 Billion for planes is a testimonial to the abject failure of the Tejas.
The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program began in 1983 out of the rising need to replace the MiG-21s, which even then were becoming obsolete but still constituted the most numerous type of aircraft in the Indian Air Force’s inventory. By 1990, the design for a new plane was finalized, with the aircraft adopting a cranked delta wing and tailless configuration powered by a single turbofan engine.
Five years later the designated manufacturer, Hindustan Aeronautical (HAL), unveiled two prototypes. However, because of difficulties with its flight-control system, the aircraft’s first test flight was delayed another five years, until January 2001. Since then, two more prototypes have been produced, with a naval variant currently undergoing development.
Yet more than two decades since its conception, the Tejas has yet to reach production status. Instead, it continues to perform endless flight tests. Difficulties with flight controls were eventually resolved, but its power plant, the indigenous Kaveri engine, continues to be plagued with technical difficulties, the worst of which was the collapse of the engine during high-altitude tests performed at a Russian base in 2004. Asia Times. Anyone want an obsolete Indian fighter? By David Nguyen
This above excepts was taken from an artilce written in the Asia Times two years ago. Nothing has changed.
The DRDO has been working on Kaveri engine for past 16 years and after coming up with problems in giving requisite high altitude thrust to the engines decided to float international tenders in 2005 for co-development. India’s first aero-engine ‘Kaveri’ may be ready in 4 years. 9 Nov 2008, 1411 hrs IST, PTI
- World record: 500th Indian “Flying Coffin” Mig crashes. The IAF has the worst crash record on the planet
- Unmitigated failure: Indian Tejas scrapped. New Snecma plane?
If India had been able to produce the Tejas there was no need to purchase the Gripen for which it has floated a tender for $10 Billion
When completed, the Tejas will be comparable to the Gripen in its capabilities. But the Gripen has been operating in Swedish squadrons for nearly a decade and has already seen a new upgraded variant, the Gripen-C, being produced. Similarly, another light combat aircraft, the F-16, has been in service for nearly three decades while offering similar capabilities and numerous upgraded variants.
The capabilities the Tejas offers do not provide anything new or significant over existing light fighters that have already been flying in foreign air forces for years. In short, it is already obsolete. Asia Times. Anyone want an obsolete Indian fighter? By David Nguyen
The original plan to indigenously build an engine by HAL and other companies ended is unmitigated failures.
Introduction
The recent news, curiously enough reported only by ¹Calcutta telegraph to best of my knowlede, that the Kaveri engine being built to power the Tejas LCA had failed in high altitude simulation test on the ground was a disappointment. However, it was not a surprise. Bangalore based Gas Turbine and Research Organization, GTRE, has in the past failed to deliver on the HJE-2500 engine for the Kiran jet trainer or come up with anything credible when the Maruts languished for want of a suitable engine during the 70s. Its ability to come up with a GE F404 replacement was suspect at the very best, more likely quixotic.
²Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy on October 6 acknowledged the setback in Kaveri development when he recommended a mid-term quality review of the Kaveri aero-engine
As part of my research on strategic affairs I frequent numerous web sites that focus on India’s emergence as a military power. The enthusiasm expressed on most such forums by young Indians for Defense Research Projects managed by the DRDO, such as the LCA, Arjun MBT and the Brahmos is gratifying. Unfortunately, there is no similar enthusiasm for DRDO products within the defense forces. The IAF is not as thrilled as the young people on these forums about the proposed induction of the LCA. Clearly, there is a serious disconnect and I will attempt to address in these columns in the coming days.
The Marut (HF-24) Experience
The Marut was the first fighter designed and produced in India. The legendary Dr Kurt Tank, of Focke Wolf 191 fame, led the team of aircraft designers in the 1950s to produce what was an excellent airframe. However, from its inception right upto its retirement in 1980, the Marut lacked a suitable power plant.
The Marut saga is a story of dismal project management and illustrates the inordinate sway of the Indian Defense Research Establishment over critical defense procurement decisions.
The Indian Air Force was never enthusiastic about inducting it. The aircraft’s combat performance was dismal and so was its weapon load. Its high pressure hydraulic system was prone to frequent failures and its canopy and ejection systems had serious defects. During its short service life the Marut fleet was grounded for many months on many occasions.
The Maruts participated in the 1971 war but accomplished little more than pin prick strikes thanks to their limited payload. Their ability to fly at over 600 K at tree top levels, however, stood them in good stead and helped them escape attacking Sabres. Indeed, during the 1970s the three Marut squadrons operated by the IAF were more cause for worry to the Air Marhsals of the IAF than the Air Marhsals of the PAF.
I started my career in the IAF as a Marut pilot (1975-1980) and flew nearly 700 hrs on it. I had the dubious distinction of participating in its decommissioning in 1980 when the Air Force finally decided to give up on it. One of my last sorties on the Marut was a flight to Kanpur to deliver a spanking new aircraft to Kanpur for cocooning.
It was only when I went to Jaguars that I understood how potent a fighter jet could be just as how much more fun flying a fighter could be.
The point that I am trying to make here is that for good reason the IAF has not been happy with what the Defense Research Establishment in India has had to offer. The Marut is just one of the examples. I am aware of more. This is not to suggest that the IAF is not appreciative of the effort to indigenize. It is, but its responsibility to procure the best weapon systems within our limited resources is greater. Posted by vkthakur on Sunday, October 10, 2004 (EST). Because of delays in its planned induction, the Tejas does not adequately address the current and future threats faced by the IAF. There is a strong case for encouraging the IAF and ADA to think beyond the Tejas
India, after developing and testing nine prototypes of two ‘Kaveri’ engines, decided to seek foreign collaboration as the aero-engine repeatedly failed in high-altitude tests conducted in Russian facilities. India’s first aero-engine ‘Kaveri’ may be ready in 4 years. 9 Nov 2008, 1411 hrs IST, PTI
Refusing to be drawn in on where Indian scientists had faced problems in attempts to develop a purely indigenous fighter engine, the Snecma official said that Kaveri would be of nine-tonne capacity engine with low thrust to weight ratio...The initial 40 Tejas are to powered by US General Electric404 engine. But DRDO officials recently said that the GE404 lacked power to enable Tejas to undertake its multi-role capability in full….But now the Snecma official says the nine-tonne thrust capability and low thrust ratio would give the successive Tejas capability of greater manoeuvrability to undertake air-to-air, air-to-ground as well as carrier-borne operations. India’s first aero-engine ‘Kaveri’ may be ready in 4 years. 9 Nov 2008, 1411 hrs IST, PTI
The IAF also presents a plan to purchase GE engines, but the engine mentioned is not pwerful enough to thrust the plane into production and beyond.
The initial 40 Tejas are to powered by US General Electric404 engine. But DRDO officials recently said that the GE404 lacked power to enable Tejas to undertake its multi-role capability in full.
But now the Snecma official says the nine-tonne thrust capability and low thrust ratio would give the successive Tejas capability of greater manoeuvrability to undertake air-to-air, air-to-ground as well as carrier-borne operations. India’s first aero-engine ‘Kaveri’ may be ready in 4 years. 9 Nov 2008, 1411 hrs IST, PTI
Tejas – Too Little Too Late
The recent news stories on the Kaveri engine setback should prompt some introspection – Is the Tejas going the Marut way? Will it be rammed down the IAF’s throat by the Defense Research Establishment just as the Marut was nearly 40 years ago? Doing so may serve national pride but it will certainly not serve national defense.
Pressure is being brought on the IAF to commit in large numbers to the Tejas. What does the IAF really know about Tejas that will enthuse it to commit to it? The fact that it uses FBW technology? That is history…40 years old history. Besides, it is not FBW that combat pilot seek it is maneuverability that comes from it. Or better still the super maneuverability that comes from thrust vectoring and extremely high thrust to weight ratios. In addition our pilots need stealth. They do not want to be knocked out of the skies by BVR missiles that are now widely available. The Tejas has very little to offer in the areas of high thrust to weight ratios, thrust vectoring and stealth.
Clearly ADA has taken too long to develop the Tejas. A 20 years lead time to develop a fighter aircraft is unrealistic. I have seen attempts to refute this contention through suggestions that the F-22 Raptor too has not yet been inducted in large numbers by the USAF despite having taken to the skies over a decade back. However, such suggestions are misleading. Delay in the induction of the Raptor are due to the fact that the US Congress is not yet convinced that the threat that the Raptor is designed to address really exists. In the case of the IAF, the threat that the LCA was conceived to address existed right through the 80s and 90s. However, the LCA remained on the drawing boards and consequently the threat was never addressed. Five years from now, if the LCA is indeed available for induction, the type of threat that the IAF will face is not something that the Tejas was conceived to address.
Having said the above, let me state unequivocally, that delays not withstanding, I am proud of what the ADA has achieved and I think the whole nation should be. I for one do not doubt that the Tejas will one day impress the IAF enough to be inducted. However, what I am objecting to here is the possibility that the IAF’s punch is compromised by its wait for the Tejas. That is not fair to the brave fighters who defend our skies just as it is not fair to the taxpayers who fund the defense budget in the belief that the nation’s armed foreces get the best equipment possible to fight with.
Even if the Tejas is not inducted into the IAF it will be an achievement that the nation could be proud of. Pure technology development figher aircraft are not uncommen. The Russian Berkut Su-37 and MiG 35 are examples. India needs to fund defense research and development so that we are not dependent on other nations for our security. It is my contention that ADA must be paid by the nation for their excellent effort through the budget of the DRDO not the IAF.
If and when the Tejas is ready for induction it is important that the IAF must have a choice whether to induct it or not. It is equally important that ADA must be encouraged to move on to a stealthy and super maoneuverable derivative of the Tejas
PS I report on Defence matters because India spends nearly 20% of its budget on Defence. Two of Inda’s neighbors openly covet her territory and don’t foresake the use of violence to get it. Under the circumstances I think it is imperative that all Indians follow matters of defence closely. Our history, distant and recent, is replete with invasions that we invited upon ourselves by not being adequately prepared.
If you would like to contribute a picture or article to this blog I will be delighted to hear from you.
Ref:
¹http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040930/asp/frontpage/story_3822650.asp
²http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=56530
Posted by vkthakur on Sunday, October 10, 2004 (EST). Because of delays in its planned induction, the Tejas does not adequately address the current and future threats faced by the IAF. There is a strong case for encouraging the IAF and ADA to think beyond the Tejas
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- Unmitigated failure: Indian Tejas scrapped. New Snecma plane?
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IAF AND PAF
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