and the decision on the new engine for the LCA Mk2 will be made by March 2010 as per this report by Ajai Shukla. no need to speculate about RD-33 because this article makes it clear that the race is between the F414 (not clear if its the EPE variant) and the EJ200. since its made clear that the engineering work for integrating either of the engines is not too much (this doesn’t include the change to the inlet, is my guess), it basically boils down to cost, if both offer the same level of ToT.

Decision likely before March 2010, price will determine winner.

For two years, the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) — the agency developing the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) — has searched for an engine to boost the performance of India’s homegrown fighter. With bids for two engines — the General Electric F-414, and the Eurojet EJ200 — submitted on October 12, Business Standard has learned that ADA will select one before March 2010.

The GE F-404, one of fighter history’s iconic engines, currently powers the Tejas. But its 82-85 kilonewtons (KN) of thrust does not provide the acceleration or the sustained turning ability needed by the Tejas in air-to-air combat. ADA wants the Tejas to have 90-95 KN of thrust, which both the EJ200 and the GE F-414 provide. And, so the F-404 will power only the first two Tejas squadrons; all subsequent LCAs, including the naval version, will fly with either the F-414 or the EJ200.

DRDO’s Chief Controller of Aeronautics, Dipankar Banerjee says, two crucial factors will determine the winner: which engine fits into the Tejas with minimal re-engineering; and which one works out cheaper (acquisition cost + operating cost).

The DRDO officer, who guides the Tejas programme, debunked the long-held belief that the Tejas would require major re-engineering for fitting the new engine. “We have evaluated both engines and we believe only minor changes will be needed in the fuselage of the Tejas”, said Banerjee. “Which engine is selected will be largely determined by its cost.”

Both engines, however, need minor design modifications by their vendors to meet the specific requirements of the Tejas. According to Banerjee, “The Eurofighter Typhoon is powered by two EJ200 engines, but the LCA just has a single engine. For safety reasons, it must have a re-ignition system to restart the engine automatically if it goes off in mid-flight.”

And since the selected engine will also power the naval Tejas, the EJ200 needs to be protected against the corrosive salt-water naval environment.

The EJ200’s rival, the GE F-414, has neither of these concerns; it already powers the single-engine Gripen fighter, as well as the F/A-18 Super Hornet, which the US Navy operates off aircraft carriers. But there are two other concerns over the F-414. Firstly, it needs to be tweaked to provide greater thrust during some periods of a flight, when it appears to deliver less power. And, since it is an American engine, export controls are potentially troublesome.

Eurojet, however, insists that re-ignite software is an integral part of the EJ200. Managing Director, Eurojet, Hartmut Tenter, explained to Business Standard, “If the EJ200 goes off in mid-flight, the aircraft decelerates sharply. The engine software recognises that and automatically initiates the re-ignite procedure. It’s automatic; the pilot has to do nothing.”

Both Eurojet and General Electric consider this engine contract as vital. The order for 99 engines (plus options for another 49) is worth an estimated US $750 million. But, far more importantly, both see this contract as a way of getting a foot in the door for the US $11 billion Medium Fighter contract. Eurojet EJ200 engines power the Eurofighter Typhoon, while GE F-414s power both the F/A-18 and the Gripen NG. Getting a contract for the engine is seen as a giant first step towards getting a contract for the aircraft as well.

No pictures and PAF regularly participates in such exercises to a greater frequency than percieved. We don’t publicise such activities.
And F-16s aren’t the only aircraft with advanced avionics in PAFs orbat.

go with ROSE Mirages to face F-16 Block 60s, Rafales, Typhoons and F-22s ? :rolleyes:even the current F-16As aren’t much of a match for anything else in the exercise.

noew they want an “off-the-shelf” procurement of basic trainers..by the way, the IAF has already started training its pilots on the Kiran Mk.2 and is apparently going very well, as per AW&ST’s latest edition.

IAF gets MoD’s nod to acquire a basic trainer
Ravi Sharma

BANGALORE: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has given the Indian Air Force (IAF), whose training fleet is presently in a squeeze, the go ahead to acquire, ‘off the shelf,’ 75 basic trainer aircraft.

The Ministry’s decision comes in response to an urgent call from the IAF for an ab initio trainer, who, after the grounding of their Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) designed and manufactured Hindustan Piston Trainer-32 (HPT-32) last August, were left without this class of an aircraft to train flight cadets.

Official sources confirmed that the IAF will shortly send out a request for proposal (RFP) to a number of basic turbo prop aircraft manufacturers including Embraer (for their Tucano), Pilatus (PC-21), Raytheon (T-6 Texan), Finmeccanica (M-311), Grob Aircraft (G-120TP) and Korea Aerospace Industries (KT-1) in an effort to choose an appropriate trainer.

The grounding of the 125-strong HPT-32 fleet has meant that the IAF will perforce have to fast track the trainer’s selection process. However, the selection process is expected to take a year, as the IAF must go through the tender process.

Given this scenario, a desperate IAF is even toying with the idea of introducing flying lessons for cadets at the Air Force Academy (AFA) near Hyderabad on the jet engine Kiran intermediate trainer.

But the HPT-32 still remains grounded with the Court of Inquiry that went into the reasons for the July 31 crash which killed two IAF instructs, finding that the trainer’s engine ran dry.

The HPT-32 has been plagued with engine cuts, a phenomena when the engine suddenly switches of in mid air. Ninety such incidents and 11 deaths have been reported since the trainer became operational in 1984.

keep in mind that “incidents” doesn’t mean “accidents”. it is also an indictment of HAL and the IAF..what were they doing all this while ? 90 incidents couldn’t have happened overnight, could they ? why on earth didn’t they do a major study into what was causing the engines to cut out and have it resolved ?? surely its not like HAL couldn’t have found out what was causing this problem..utterly ridiculous.

from the Times of India..finally an Armed forces general has the balls to speak it out in the open..I really hope that Air Marshal P.K. Barbora is the next in line to become ACM after ACM Pradeep Naik’s term is over.

Then, during an international conference on “Energising the Indian Aerospace Sector”, Air Marshal Barbora launched an attack on the culture of “irresponsible politics” which “impinges very badly” on the country’s defence preparedness.

“The internal politics over the years is such that whatever defence requirements are cleared by the government, they are opposed by the opposition parties. And the same happens when roles change and the opposition sits in government,” he said.

The tendency to score political points by referring defence deals struck by an earlier government to the Central Vigilance Commission brings modernisation of armed forces to a grinding halt. “Everyone looks at each other with suspicion,” he said.

Seeking “pardon” for “saying things which must be said”, Air Marshal Barbora then held that India should be “bold enough” to allow more FDI in the defence sector as well as bolster the role of the domestic private sector in the arms manufacturing business.

It was in May 2001 that the defence industry sector was opened up to 100% private investment, with up to 26% FDI, with the aim of establishing a strong defence-industrial base. Till then, the defence sector was strictly the public sector’s preserve.

But the policy has not shown much results since then, with the armed forces continuing to import around 70% of their military hardware and software from countries like Russia, Israel, France, UK and now, increasingly the US.

Even Pakistan does much better on the defence exports front, said Air Marshal Barbora. While defence PSUs like Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd are “pleased” at producing just doors and undercarriages for European Airbus aircraft, China has taken huge strides and is making the “whole damn thing”, he added.

The IAF vice-chief did not stop at that. He even asked private companies to learn the art of `reverse engineering’ in military technologies, which China has mastered and exploits to the hilt. “Has anyone ever had the courage to ask China why are you doing it? No one cares a hoot. If you can’t make it yourself, you should at least know how to do reverse engineering,” he said.

One day ago BAE Systems Bofors signed a MoU with India about a new artillery system (Archer?), so I kind of fail to see how they could be interpreted as blacklisted.

http://www.sr.se/ekot/artikel.asp?artikel=3240191
(Swedish state radio)

Could you please translate it ? I found that Swedish to English translators are very very poor on the web..

Let me focus in one part only.

What exactly did Hal or DRDO or India learn from LCA?

-Avionics (besides RWR and some FBW software)
-Radar (Israeli)
-Composites (Italian)
-Engine (US- assistance from rest of the world that turned Kaveri into maybe ship thrust)
-Weapons (Russians sofar)
-Ejection seat (UK)
-Cockpit (Probably Israel or France)

As I said. There is not much chance one nation can produce top tech. Even very developed nations like Sweden need foreign parts and huge infrastructure to stay level (but not in advanced parts). How is it possible that India is going to learn a lot if they already put together MKI, Jaguar and do major overhauling on their older planes like mig21? They already posses basic knowledge but it is a question whether they can move towards copying and improving (like China) or adding something valuable towards new develoments (PakFa).

I know my friends Ankush and Rajan (who love to call critical persons rats) see this as a flame but there is zero degrading of India but purely a fair and open question. Maybe India got a brand new engine development team… Maybe they did contribute to the Elta radar… Please enlighten us cause you guys are so well informed.

you won’t stop trolling, that’s clear. so I won’t bother answering you with any real data anymore. anyway, whatever they’ve learnt, Pakistan won’t learn in another 30-40 years..if they even survive as a nation without being taken over by the Taliban that is..

A oneliner with only the idea to degrade your neighbour. The word free aid is a bit dualistic. If I rent the Indian army to fight China and does it sound strange to you that I pay for the services? It is either for renting the soldiers or paying for the arms. And if you care so much what they bu then what do you expect? That they fight with different weapons then the rest of the world or do we have to restart the F5 or Sabre production lines to satisfy your ego? At the moment the WOT is also Pakistans survival but we know who paid to counter Russia in Afghanistan. Back then it was perfectly normal even though India supported the Russians. Now suddenly we counter terrorits and warlords in that same nation and the effects in Pakistan and we are suddenly given free cash or weapons. People with oneliners never show the capacity to be really part of a forum. If India has rhe right to modernise (MKI,Arrow, Brahmos,Mig29K etc etc) what gives you the right to bash a neighbour that has to fight the toughest battle with vintage arms? A… Running back probably.

there’s one saying to put all of Pakistan’s efforts into perspective. “As you sow, so you reap”. the decades of sponsoring and training of jehadi terrorists for battles in Jammu & Kashmir and Afghanistan are now coming back to haunt Pakistan.