that Ravi Sharma got it wrong. Vayu magazine (which is very trustworthy) in an article on the Tejas mentioned that it was a hybrid Elta 2032/ MMR radar. the antenna and radome are from LRDE (India), scanner from ECIL (India) and the Elta 2032’s power amplifier unit.

as per Rakall on BRF, who was at AeroIndia 2009

“LSP-3 is ready to fly and will do very soon (within next 1-2months). LSP-3 has the radar integrated in it. The radar is has the LRDE/HAL antenna, ECIL/BARC developed APL, indigenous power amplifier and indigenous FRP radome.. the rest is all Elta stuff — all the signal & data processing units, all the software for AA, AG, AS modes and the fire control algorithms come straight out of 2032.”

so, there is a little doubt on whether the Elta 2032 Power amplifier unit or an indigenous Power amplifier unit is being used.

The MMR/2032 is currently being flight tested in Israel aboard a Boeing 737 ‘Hack’ aircraft and another is mounted on the ADA rooftop in Bangalore, keeping track of LCAs and other aircraft flying around.

in Rakall’s words

So the radar is neither MMR or 2032. It is a hybrid of both.. as of now – for the near future, not thinking of 2052.
Coming to this MMR+2032 radar which will be in LSP3 — the radar has been extensively tested.. Very very extensively and works very well in all 3 modes.. after the airborne qualification was completed — they installed this radar somewhere on a rooftop in the vicinity of CABS area of HAL airport and kept tracking the fighter planes flying out of HAL airport evreryday… that is the LCA’s, Jags, Kirans etc..

The LSP-3 radar tracked “smaller aircraft” (smaller than LCA – probably Kirans/Hawks) at 100-120km range.. That is the capability of the radar.

Turkey completes deal for 30 new F-16 Block 50s

so now that Turkey has also gone ahead and signed up for more Block 50 F-16s, what advantage will a Block 50/52 F-16 purchase give to Greece ? if it has to be an F-16 purchase, it should be the best available, and that is the F-16 Block 60..also, take into account that Turkey will also upgrade all its 219 (thats a huge number!) of F-16s to Block 50 standards.

Probably both. Most press articles simply refer generically to an “F16 offer”. Initially, it was only the Block 52+ Adv. Some months later, there was a LM spokesman saying that they offer the Block 60 too. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a sort of custom made solution on the table. By that i mean, something in between. For example the first batch of Block52+ isn’t exactly the same as the 2nd batch we are getting. The latter ones have some enhancements, for which we use the designation “Adv”.

Surely the HAF should look to the future, considering that any F-16s ordered now would only be available in another 3-4 years..AESA equipped F-16 Block 60s are definitely superior to the Block 52 or Block 52+ variant, so unless cost is a big issue, its a no-brainer on what new aircraft HAF should get (if it is a F-16 variant, that is).

pardon my ignorance on this, but what version of the F-16 is LM offering to the HAF? is it going to be a Block 60 version or a follow-on order for more Block 52s ?

EADS is helping HAL/ADA with the glitches of the current LCA. And the Snecama core is for the Kaveri engine which has been officaly dissociated from the Tejas programme for the time being.

EADS is not helping ADA/HAL with any glitches..it is helping them with the flight test envelope expansion and technology that is not available..there’s a difference between that and glitches, which seem to indicate something wrong with the Tejas.

Forgive me for not checking and citing sources but several sources report an increase in wing size for MkII. Is this really not going to be the case?

this was reported in Flight International’s report, but after that several posters on BRF who attended AeroIndia have clarified that there will be no increase in the size of the wing..its already huge with a very low wing loading, so only fuselage modifications will be necessary to house the new engine..larger air intakes will be the likeliest external difference.

some great pics from AeroIndia 2009 by Kedar Karmarkar..some of the best shots of the Tejas LCA.

link

was just looking at the news about BAe securing a contract for maintenance and support for the Saudi Typhoon fleet..its just mind-bogglingly expensive ! the original deal itself is worth 4.3 billion pounds and they expect another 5 billion pounds for weapons and systems and another 10 billion pounds for through lifetime maintenance, training and support..altogether works out to nearly 20 billion pounds for 72 Typhoons and their associated arms, training and infrastructure..could someone like Swerve clarify if these figures are correct?