the most important takeaway from that interview for me is the estimate for time needed for flight testing. that’s what AM Rajkumar was closely involved in (validation of LCA CLAW) and that’s where his estimates are going to be closest to the mark. 2 to 2.5 years to complete flight testing is pretty good.
for one I do not think there is going to be any widening of wing and enlargement of wing area, LCA already has one of the lowest wing loading for fighters around the world, it does not need more wing area.
for Mk2
a) intakes are going to be enlarged and hence re-designed
b) there might be some adjustments of the wing and fuselage but nothing hugely drastic that will lead to any significant weight increase
let’s keep in mind that the LCA is already undergoing a weight reduction exercise which is expected to shave off 300-400 kg from its current weight of 6500 kg. even if Mk2 adds some weight in fuselage it will still be around the weight it is today. the only significant weight increase I can think of is the AESA radar with its cooling mechanism. even that would be a increase of hundred odd kg’s at most. upgrading avionics is not going to add any significant amounts of weight because the Mk1 itself already carries all the classes of electronics Mk2 will.
c) the landing gear has always been mentioned as one of main points of weight increase. it’s possible we will see a re-designed one for Mk2. when the original was designed India had no experience of trying to design one and some opine that the jaguar LG was used as the basis which was not good enough in the long run.
d) I don’t quite understand how the Mk2 is being projected as underpowered, it will weigh 6700-6800 kg at most and be powered by an engine generating 100 kN of thrust. that’s a big improvement over 6500 kg and 82 kN of thrust.
e) IMVVHO AM Rajkumar’s timeline is ultra conservative and even then he mentions 2018 to be the year when MK2 gets inducted into IAF, not 2020 as you guys are saying. 😉 2020 is the date for FOC which is a different thing. to put things in perspective, the Su-30k was inducted in IAF in 1997. it was 1999 (or late ’98) before it was declared fully operational.
f) IMHO the following is a likely timeline
roll out by 2013
first flight by 2013-14
IOC by 2015-16
In the meantime we might expect another squadron of Mk1 for IAF.
Deino, I don’t think anyone realistically expected LCA to become an export success, given IAF’s yawning gap in fighter numbers and HAL’s annual production rate. but mark my words, it will serve the Indian military in significant numbers. do not forget there are numbers to be produced for the navy as well. 😉
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