yawn …. quadbike, why don’t you ask this question in the “Rafale News” thread. Since you are quoting the french, they are responsible for giving you doubts …. you should hear them out.

When the LCA was being designed India never had the IL78 Midas. A2A-Refuelling is very new in the IAF.

You missed the whole point. The significance of an internal IFR probe is that frontal/profile RCS of Tejas is kept small. 🙂

Link

Snecma, which had earlier indicated that TOT for the core may take 15 years, now believes it can be done in 5 years. It proposes a minimum production run of 250 engines to make the joint venture viable.

Another Link

The point of discussion is about the numbers involved……. JimmyJ and Tanguahka please follow me carefully:

Snecma says a minimum of 250 engines will have to be made to make the JV viable.

But if India buys 99+optional 49 engines of either EJ200 or F414 type for the MK2 LCA there won’t be a need for 250 Snecma-GTRE engines. This has put the indian govt. in a dilemma.

If India wants to make the Snecma-GTRE engine it will have to power all of the Mk2 LCA’s to make it commercially viable for Snecma. This means dropping the EJ200/F414 as an option.

That is why I said that “it has become a third option”.

I’ve been wandering,

Has anyone have an idea what those blisters are under the wing at the wing roots?
somekind of actuator fairing or is it some super secret EW thingie?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers.

The SRAAM in that stealthy bay that you refer to can be used in two ways:

1. Offensively:
Lets assume all the LRAAM’s in the main weapons bays are used up. By virtue of being VLO the PAKFA can sneak up to within range of the unsuspecting enemy and launch its SRAAM.

2. Defensively:
Lets assume the PAKFA has disengaged from a fight after emptying its LRAAM’s and is returning to base. Suddenly an enemy is detected by the rearward facing radar of the PAKFA. The backward-flipping R73 can then be launched.

So in both cases the PAKFA scores a win.
note:The PAKFA has two side-facing aesa arrays too, giving it 360degree radar coverage.

latest info on Brahmos II

Brahmos CEO @ DefExpo 2010 speaking on the Brahmos II

Range: 290 km
Speed: Mach 5-6
Development status: Will be operational by 2019
Remarks: Will use the same ground, sea and air based infrastructure as the Brahmos missile. The missile will be smaller in dimension than Brahmos.

I’ve been wandering,

Has anyone have an idea what those blisters are under the wing at the wing roots?
somekind of actuator fairing or is it some super secret EW thingie?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers.

Its nothing really ….. Its just a neat way to conceal two additional SR-AAM’s of the python5/iris-t class per aircraft. more firepower.

This is analogous to the sidewinder rack on the Rafale’s wing-tips. Only difference is that its internal and stealthy.

I have heard news that ADA is designing two airframe’s in parallel, one for a F414 and another for a EJ200 powered Mk2LCA. From the above news it seems a third airframe design effort will have to be done in parallel for the hybrid engine. If India’s Minisrty-of-Def and/or DRDO are heading along this path I find it interesting.

Note: Snecma-Kaveri hybrid engine was supposed to be the successor to the Mk2 Engine (F414 or EJ200). However now it seems it is a third option! specially if the IAF has reluctantly agreed to it.

Cobham Looks At LCA Fueling Probe

“We will develop and design a retractable refueling probe,” Griffiths says. “LCA is a tightly packed aircraft … Unfortunately, we’re later in the design period. We will roll out the retractable [version] by 2013-14.”