By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service
Bangalore: The Aeronautical
Development Agency (ADA) is giving the final touches to the preliminary
design of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk-II, scheduled to be
completed by the end of March. An official confirmed to Express on
Saturday that the detailed design phase of LCA Mk-2 would begin in the
second quarter of 2014. A separate project team from ADA and Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), dedicated to the upgraded version, is currently
undertaking daily reviews to get the first cut of the design out by next
month.
The main scope of Tejas Mk-2 programme is to have the engine changed
from the current GE F-404 to GE F-414. A development contract for eight
engines for the preliminary design phase has already been signed with
GE, with the critical design review already been completed at its Boston
facility. The Mk-II fighter will have OBOGS (Onboard Oxygen Generating
System), which is being developed by Defence Bioengineering and
Electromedical Laboratory (DEBEL), a Bangalore-based Defence Research
and Development Organisation lab. "Currently, the ground development is
over for OBOGS and the systems are undergoing various stages of
qualification process," an official who wished not to be named, said.
Tejas Mk-II will have a unified electronic warfare system aimed at
detecting and ducking enemy radar and later jamming it. "It is likely to
be the most maintenance-friendly aircraft in its class and all
equipment onboard can be easily removed or re-installed smoothly. The
Tejas MK-I has some scope for improving the maintenance aspects, which
is being addressed in Mk-II," the official said.
Her promises to make Tejas Mk-II free from any kind of dead weight. "The
Mk-I has some dead weight in the form of lead plates installed to
balance the aircraft which will disappear in Mk-II. It will also have
considerable amount of extra fuel capability in operational clean
configuration," he added.
The point performance of Mk-II will be higher than Mk-I, which means the
aircraft will have better rate of climb, transonic acceleration and
turn rates. The new version will have an in-flight refueling system and
the ADA-HAL combine is planning to take a new route for Mk-II
production. "We are going for the DFMA (Design for Manufacturing and
Assembly) technique for the production of Mk-II. The DFMA concept will
be used for the first time for an Indian aviation programme, which will
decrease the production time and cost, also increase the quality
quotient," the official said.
With the avionics systems changing at a faster rate leading to
technology obsolescence, the makers of Tejas have an uphill task of
making the fighter contemporary even in the 2025s. "We will straight
away get on to the production phase after the prototypes complete the
required test flights. The The Indian Air Force (IAF) support is a huge
factor for the Mk-2 project with some cost being shared by them. It
shows the confidence the user has in us. Tejas will be the mainstay for
IAF in the long run," he said.
The Mk-II project was sanctioned in 2009 at a cost about of Rs 2400
crore and post-design finalisation phase, two prototypes are set to roll
out from the HAL hangars. The IAF has committed a minimum of squadrons
of Tejas Mk-2.
Copyright@The New Indian Express
