First of all let me tell you that the IAF has CONFIRMED an order for 40 LCA’s a few months back. The IAF chiefs have commited themselves to the LCA on all the TV interviews i have seen. The IAF is not comming out every week and saying in the press that they will buy the 40 LCA’s that they confirmed that they would buy. And some reportors and trolls have been using this to speculate that the LCA might not be inducted at all. etc and what not…

get over it guys – the IAF have confirmed the order and they dont have to come out every day to confirm that. Infact the first 20 LCA’s will have GE enginese and the order for the same has been placed and anyone can go look at this in the GE press release on the official GE website. The next 20 (and onwards) will have the indegenous Kaveri engine (which is now undergoing clearence tests)

Check out the IAF’s earlier conformation of the deal :

[u]The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday confirmed an order for 40 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), including 20 opitional purchases at a total cost of Rs 4000 crore. [/u]

Replying to a question, he said the decision of the Air Force to go in for 126 multi role fighters in the 20 tonne class had nothing to do with the delay in the induction of LCA. “We needed different aircraft in the airforce fleet. Don’t mix up purchase of 126 aircraft with the LCA” he added.

http://srirangan.net/india-defence/node/91

LCA with Kaveri engine to be operationalised in 2009: DRDO >> http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=274827

and guys the foreign partners that the DRDO is looking for is for the MCA’s Kaveri engine; not the LCA’s

Let me tell you that not buying the LCA is not even an option for the IAF; it will be bought; and dont expect the IAF to come and personally tell everyone that they will buy the LCA. It was confirmed and done and the deal will be sealed in some time;

And if anyone is not convinced check this out; the confirmation came in February itself.

YELAHANKA AIRBASE, FEB 11: In wake of chief of air staff air chief marshal SP Tyagi declaring the Indian Air Force intent to acquire up to 40 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft with GE’s F 404-GE-IN2o engine, Chuck Nugent, VP of the GE military systems congratulated Aeronautics Development Authority (ADA). He said, “We are proud to be partner on India LCA team. The announcement reflects the results of the combining a great aircraft with a superb engine.Our partnership with Aeronautics Development Authority has provided the framework for this highly successful flight test programme.”

He added, “We are pleased with the confidence the IAF has with our engine and look forward to supporting the additional requirements announced today.”

and if you want more here are links :

IAF to buy 40 Tejas aircraft >> http://www.hindu.com/2005/02/11/stories/2005021107091200.htm

Air force to buy 40 LCA from HAL >> http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NEWS/newsrf.php?newsid=1365

and from the GE website, the comfromation for the 20 engines for the first batch of LCA’s >> http://www.geae.com/aboutgeae/presscenter/military/military_2004205a.html

so you see the order fot the GE engines have alredy been placed;

and speaking of inductions into the IAF, check this out >>

India’s indigenous Pilotless Target Aircraft, Lakshya, was inducted into the Indian Air Force today in tandem with the addition of nine upgraded twin-seater deep penetration strike aircraft, Jaguars, to its squadron.

Sweet news : http://news.indiainfo.com/2005/07/15/1507lakshya.html

Questions to experts

Question : How hard is reverse engineering an Engine ??

I mean the Chinese reverse engineered the Al-31FN to make the WS-10A.

Do you guys think it would be a better alternative for us to clone the GE engine ?

and is the tech of the Kaveri compareable to the GE engine that is powering the first 20 LCA’s ?

and could someone give a link to the article that said that the LCA’s RCS is 1/3rd the Migrage-2000’s ….lost it 🙁

What are your views on the LCA’s MMR radar, how do you suppose its tech will fare against the FC-1’s griffo and the Russian Koyopo for the bisons ??

and how much does the GE engine cost and how much does the Kaveri cost ??

and could someone list all the foreign components that are still present in the LCA ??

and is it the LCA’s target to match the performance of the Mirage-2000 ??

Is it true that the LCA has the same FBW system as the F-16XL ??

and what’s the latest on the DRDO-MBDA Astra BVRAAM ?

I’ve heard that the LCA will get the Meteor (in addition to the Su-30 MKI), can you confirm this ?

Su-37 with brown+yellow como scheme
F-22
Rafale
German Eurofighter’s
LCA Tejas
J-10 (in CGI’s only)
Bell X-22
Mirage-2000 5
Super hornet
SR-71