as per Vayu Aerospace magazine (and this is one of the better journals in India dedicated to defence), the Tejas has completed full envelope expansion for Initial Operaing Capability (IOC) by Dec 2009 during the trials held in Dabolim, Goa. also talks about the second order for 20 more Tejas Mk1s as an expression of confidence by the IAF.

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I wished that a strike on a distant well defended surface target could be pictured somehow…That much more representative of what is truely done in the last conflicts and what put a challenge to modern aircrafts most recently…(bosnia, kosovo, iraq…).

Air to Air is somewhat (almost) a joke now ! Just for fun and to debate in forums:D

thats what all Super Hornet fans say !:P

On the other hand, IAI wont touch the engine or relife the airframe. That will have to be HALs job and thats not going to be easy.

minor correction Teer, if Life Extension Studies are done in India, it’ll be the responsibility of the Structural Integrity Division of NAL, not HAL.

And while they may have original spares etc for a complete overhaul, to get an overall idea of the fatigue life they may have to test a Mirage to destruction to get an idea of the TTL for the airframe beyond what was initially stated. Thats a loss of an airframe more or less, which is where the OEM has the advantage since they have the design data and can often relife without having to do such comprehensive “test till fatigue crack” tests.

thats correct. they did it on a MiG-21 Bis to get an idea of how much the actual TTL of the MiG-21 Bis airframe is compared to what the manufacturer originally stated. they did it on a MiG-29 as well

link

Again the total numbers of aircraft alone do not give any accurat picture of the capability of a nation airforce firepower.

Thanks

very true..Syria apparently has more combat aircraft than Israel and yet we all know who the dominant air-power in that region is and that too with nearly a hundred fewer combat aircraft. Its just amazing how dense the fighter population is in such a small region with Egypt, Syria and Israel all having fleets of combat aircraft that are among the 10 largest in the world..

Offset related offers have come in for both the EJ200 and the F414

Tejas engine offset offers come in
Praveena Sharma / DNASaturday, December 12, 2009 3:34 IST Email

Bangalore: European aerospace company Eurojet and America’s General Electric submitted offset proposals for their bids for light combat aircraft Tejas engines to the ministry of defence on Friday, a day before the deadline expires — December 12.The Indian government invites offset proposals from bidders of defence and civil aircraft deals.

An offset obligation is expected to be discharged through direct purchases or by executing export orders for defence products and components manufactured by or services provided by Indian defence industries. In many instances, it also involves technology transfer and training for military requirements.

As per the defence procurement policy 2006, 30-50% offset obligation is mandatory for the winner of the defence deal. There are two offset proposals — technical and commercial — submitted by each bidder, which are opened after completion of technical and commercial evaluations. For instance, technical offset proposal is opened after the technical evaluation and commercial offset offer after commercial evaluation.

Since the offset programme of the Indian government will require transfer of the key technology, the two aerospace companies need clearances from their respectively governments or regional economic organisations.

Apparently, Eurojet, which will be supplying its EJ200 for the new LCA Tejas, has got clearance from Nato Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (Netma) for the transfer of “key technology” under the offset programme.

“In their proposal, they (Eurojet) have accepted to transfer key technology. They have also mentioned in the same note they can discuss transfer of other technologies too,” the source said.

According to him, if the European engine maker offers 100% transfer of technology, the price of its bid would shoot up; “Then its bid would not be competitive.”Eurojet has said it would form a joint venture with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd or some private company to fulfill its offset obligation.

GE, which will supply the F-414 engine, is also said to have acquired the approval of the US government for technology transfer for the LCA programme. The two companies that have bid for the $750 million order for 99 engines for Tejas.

IAF orders inquiry into incident involving Prez’s copter

Mi-8 in VVIP transport role in India…I didn’t know that. Are there any plans to replace these in near future?

yup, they’re getting the AW101s..its a deal thats almost through and the deal has been fast-tracked since its meant to be for the VIPs and VVIPs..no delays when it comes to helicopters for the politicians.

It says it reached above 1350KM/hr but it does not really say at what altitude etc and if the tanks of the Tejas were empty, what it was carrying etc etc..

too ambiguous.

And we already know that the LCA reached Mach 1.4 at 11 km alt. So it’s obvious that this has to be the max speed at low alt. as for the tanks of the Tejas being empty, I’ve rarely read any specs about the fastest speeds with drop tanks or the quantity of internal fuel left..one thing we know for sure is that it carried the 2 R-73 dummies on its outermost wing pylons..it flies with them always AFAIK.

over 1.2 Mach at sealevel in a warm climate is BIG achievement! that needs to be confirmed.
but if its true, im impressed!

I think thats what a slightly better written article stated. link was provided by VikasRehman in a post above (thanks for that Vikas)

Panaji, Dec 8 :Light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas notched a speed of over 1,350 km per hour — the fastest by an indigenously-made fighter aircraft — during its sea level flight trials off Goa Tuesday, a senior Indian Air Force official said.

Tejas which is undergoing rigorous testing in saline, humid marine conditions in and off the coast of Goa, had performed admirably in the two-week long trials in Goa, Air Commodore Rohit Varma who is also the commanding officer of the Bangalore-based National Flight Testing Centre (NFTC) told reporters at the INS Hansa naval base Tuesday.

“The trials which lasted for two weeks comprised of flutter clearances, weapons firing, performance, stability and avionics validation. The LCA is the first supersonic fighter being manufactured indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL),” Varma, an elite pilot himself, said.

As part of the initial operational clearance, the Aeronautics Development Agency (ADA) had inducted three aircraft to Goa for conducting various sea-level flight tests, he said.

Varma also said that the LCA had already been tested in other extreme atmospheric conditions.

“Tejas has already been tested for high altitude and cold climate at Leh and in the desert environment of Rajasthan,” he said. “During the trials Tejas clocked in excess of 1,350 kmph,” Varma said, adding that the ADA in tandem with HAL was also in the process of manufacturing a naval version of the LCA.

“While the present trials are in progress for the air force version, the first prototype aircraft for the navy is also under production. The LCA-navy will be capable of taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier,” he said.

The LCA is expected to cost Rs.150 crore per aircraft and will find its home at the Sulur air force base near Coimbatore. The Indian Air Force has already ordered 20 LCAs from HAL, which will be delivered to them by 2013.

Air Vice Marshal Shankar Mani, who was also present during the media briefing, said the IAF could place a further order of 20 more LCAs after the first order.

Im just a bit confused with the above article. Am I right in assuming that its talking about the AF version and not the naval version? Also what does ultimate in ultimate speed mean? Surely, 1350 KMPH (Mach 1.27) can’t be the top speed…unless its at some particular altitude?

yeah there’s something wrong with that figure..the Tejas had crossed an envelope of Mach 1.4 by the end of 2006 itself as per the Standing Committee on Defence report to the Parliament. This must’ve been at sea level or something that the DDM (the guy calls Air Commodore Rohit Varma as Commander Varma, which indicates he’s not really a defence correspondent) didn’t catch. a pity.