Well, maybe they are talking about 80s level Al-31, not all that impressive or incredible to improve on that in some way.

I do find it a little humorous though that the posters here were adamant how unlikely it was any more engines would be ordered from Russia and suddenly…boom. An order for 123 Al-31s from Russia.

😀

thanks for the updates Teer. Wish there were reporters who took the effort like you do, rather than just writing up half-baked statements that leave much to the imagination and knowledge of the reader.

Report on the IOC phase of the Tejas leading to induction into squadron service..

link to Deccan herald article

User trial of Tejas only by Dec-Jan
Bangalore, Sep 28, DHNS:

The user trial for the Indian Air Force (IAF) version of the light combat aircraft (LCA), Tejas, is expected only by the end of this year or early next year.

The trials will be conducted by the Bangalore-based Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), a wing of the IAF.

Speaking to a group of journalists who visited the facility on Wednesday, ASTE Commandant Air Commodore B R Krishna said: “Two of our pilots are already acclimatised to flying Tejas as they have been trained; we can begin the trials once the designated aircraft are handed over to us. We expect this to happen by December or January.”

The designated aircraft are the limited series production aircraft LSP-7 and LSP-8 and the ASTE will also train more pilots to test them.

Krishna had told Deccan Herald in February that the aircraft were due in March-April, but refused to comment on the reasons for the delay in receiving them. The ASTE will evaluate Tejas for compliance with the Air Staff Qualitative Requirements and also enhance some features on the aircraft.

He said Tejas would be put through rigorous testing and pushed to its limits before handing it over to the squadron.

Krishna said most of the weapons systems being integrated onto Tejas were approved, but there would also be some special weapons, details of which are classified information.

Currently, Tejas has a capacity of taking a payload of three tonnes, including additional fuel for its sorties. Described as one of the most frugal aircraft ever to be inducted into the IAF, pilots said it could travel from Bangalore to Jamnagar without a stopover and have comfortable fuel after landing.

Tejas, which will replace the Soviet-era MiG-21 (type 77), is scheduled for final operational clearance by the end of next year.

Some more final integration tests yet to be carried out and after that the slow and high speed taxi trials, after which it will be ready for its first flight..most likely towards the end of October.

exactly. hardly seems right that such recent MiG-29Ns should be retired. a SMT upgrade and some measures to ensure smooth spares supply would probably suffice for another 10 years or so.

ADA gears up for the first flight of NP-1, the Naval Tejas prototype.

link to Tarmak blog

finally some news on the Tejas..LGB trials with Litening LDP, and R-73 tests with the MMR. Interesting to read about addition of EW features on Tejas PV1..something Ajai Shukla first mentioned. A Growler like dedicated variant or simply adding the internal EW suite to the Tejas?

link to article in The Hindu

A crucial round of armament trials of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas has just begun in Jaisalmer. Close on its heels, a second round of trials will take place in Goa next month.

Four Tejas aircraft — the Prototype Vehicle-3 (PV3) besides Limited-Series-Production (LSP) aircraft 2, 4 and 5 — have reached Jaisalmer to conduct a series of target-firing of laser-guided bombs. While three aircraft will fire munitions, one will be on standby. “The LCA will, for the first time, precision-fire 1,000 kg bombs at designated stationary ground targets using its laser designator pod for target acquisition. In all, 18 such bombs would be fired by these aircraft as part of the trials, aiming to hit targets in a one metre radius. It is, therefore, a significant trial for the aircraft,” a top source told The Hindu.

The Jaisalmer phase of the trial, expected to be over by the end of this month, will also have LCA pilots practising release of 25-pound dummy bombs. The weapon trials are conducted by test pilots of the National Flight Test Centre (NFTC), Bangalore.

During the second phase of the weapon trials, slated to begin by mid-October at the naval airbase INS Hansa in Goa, Vympel R-73 air-to-air close combat missile will be test-fired from a Tejas aircraft. Coming up for the LCA after the weapon trials will be a swift hot-and-cold weather trial in which an aircraft taking off from Jaisalmer will fly straight to Leh, where it will have a series of flight trials. “It is likely to take place by November-end or in the first week of December,” the source said.

While the sixth Limited Series Production (LSP-6) aircraft, designed with special features, continues to strive to attain a high angle of attack, indicating the aircraft’s agility, LCA Prototype Vehicle-1 (PV1) is taking on some electronic warfare (EW) features.

“At the moment, there is a lot of wiring going into the aircraft. Once ready, it will be flown to the Air Force Station in Gwalior, where its electronic warfare mettle would be tested,” said the source.

I don’t get the logic behind the prototype being built by GippsAero. But then, even the Saras prototype was built by MDB and showcased during 1993 MAKS (?)

Gipps Aero was bought by Mahindra & Mahindra. So naturally since they (M&M) were the agency who were going to produce the C-NM5 and Gipps Aero had the experience in building small aircraft, they did it.

M&M buys GippsAero and Aerostaff