#PlaneCarnival: IAF will get 36 Tejas in FOC format: ADA Chief

By Dr Anantha Krishnan M

https://twitter.com/writetake

Thrilled by the assurance given by the Chief of Air Staff Air Cheif Marshal Arup Raha, Team Tejas is on Cloud 9 as the curtains are drawn on 10th edition of Aero India 2015.

Putting an end to all speculations, Raha had categorically stated at Aero India that the Indian Air Force (IAF) has full faith in Tejas and its capabilities.

In an interview to OneIndia, P S Subramaniam, Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) Director overseeing the Tejas project said that the Chief ‘s statement has rejuvenated the team.

IAF Chief's remarks lifted the team's morale

"We read it in the newspapers and it has lifted the morale of all entire teams in ADA, HAL, DRDO and NAL. In a development programme, delays are natural and we are now ensuring that the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) is achieved as planned in December," Subramaniam said.

As reported by OneIndia earlier, the IAF will start inducting Tejas series production (SP-3) aircraft onwards into IAF.

As per the contract, HAL will have to deliver a total of 20 Tejas series production aircraft in the Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) format and another 20 in the FOC mode. The IAF also needs 80 Tejas Mk-2s, which are being powered by the GE 414 engine.

This report appeared on OneIndia on 22 Feb 2015. Full report here: http://bit.ly/1DJCEmw

Govt gives tenure extensions to 3 top aerospace scientists linked to Tejas project

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: The tenure of three top scientists closely associated with various ongoing aeronautical projects, including India's Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) programme have been extended beyond their service. Military sources confirmed to Express that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) gave the assent for the extension the services of two scientists late on Friday night, with another receiving the go ahead earlier.

P S Subramanyam, Director, Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Dr K Tamilmani, Director-General (Aero), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Shyam Chetty, Director, National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) are all operating out of Bangalore. The decision to extend the services of these three scientists were taken following the recommendations made by their respective organisational heads. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and the Appointments Committee Of Cabinet had to act swiftly as the tenure of Dr Tamil Mani and Shyam Chetty were to end on Saturday (31 May).

Sources said the PMO was in favour of the continuity of national projects and acted favourably upon the recommendations. "The PMO was of the opinion that ongoing defence projects should not be affected by the sudden exit of senior scientists. The completion of projects have been given a new thrust with daily monitoring mechanism in place. A total of 58 filed were pending with DoPT for PMO's nod," a Ministry of Defence (MoD) official said on condition of anonymity.

The decision gives Subramanyam, now 64 years old, another year in office while Dr Tamilmani, now 62 , gets another two years and 60-year-old Shyam gets two more years in service. All the three scientists are currently engaged in the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) of Tejas, scheduled to be completed next year. "It was widely felt at this point of time a change at the helm of affairs would have affected the progress of Tejas, which has finally reached the last lap before getting inducted. This worked in favour of Subramanyam, who is associated with the project from 1986 onwards," a DRDO official said.

With Tejas being a technology-driven programme, the DRDO was backing the case of Dr Tamilmani to tackle the certification challenges of the aircraft. "Dr Tamilmani's expertise is not only critical for Tejas, but also for some of the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and engine projects," the official said.

For Shyam Chetty, who reports to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the extension came in mainly due to his involvement with the National Civil Aircraft (NCA) programme. "In addition to Tejas FOC, Shyam has to lead the NAL team for the NCA project aimed at better regional connectivity. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has been given the mantle to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for undertaking the design, development, manufacture of 70 to 100 seater aircraft. NAL will play a critical role here," the official said.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

We are offering a battle-ready Teajs to IAF now: ADA Chief

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) chief P S Subramaniam says that Tejas is completely battle-ready and its increased number of flights in the last 3 years (over 1000) is a testimony to the maintenance, safety and operation features of the aircraft. In an interview to Express on Thursday, Subramaniam said that the Tejas has proved its flying capabilities at all important Indian Air Force (IAF) and a couple of naval bases.

“This year we have touched almost 50 flights and have conducted outstation trials at Jamnagar, Jaisalmer, Gwalior, Leh, Utterlai (near Jodhpur) and Goa. The aircraft has demonstrated the capabilities to operate like a typical squadron. On many occasions the same aircraft has flown more than once in a day. Many have accused us in the past that Tejas was not capable of flying more than once in day. But we have demonstrated flying thrice in a day, which is a pointer towards the ease at which it can be serviced,” the ADA chief said.

He said many local IAF technicians have appreciated the flying and serviceable qualities of Tejas, which was against the general opinion. “Today, the product speaks for itself and we were all glued to improvising its performance for the last many years. The weapon delivery capabilities of Tejas in many modes were demonstrated and over a dozen times we have fired the R-73 E missile. The electronic warfare trials were also conducted at an IAF base in central India,” Subramaniam said.

He said the Tejas is fully battle ready and over the years his team has converted it into a fighting machine from a flying machine. “The IAF is convinced today that they are accepting an aircraft which is completely combat ready. The IAF team in ADA interacted constantly with us to make sure that they get a maintenance-friendly aircraft. The IAF wanted us to cut down the servicing time, which has been done on priority. Today, if Tejas goes for a combat mission, it can be readied for another mission within an hour’s time,” Subramanian said.

The ground support equipment specifications have also been evolved. There are about 20 major ground equipment developed for Tejas. “We have also made some new tools for the IAF technicians and many of their concepts have been incorporated. Today Tejas is a fighter evolved from hundreds of feedback we received from designers, engineers, pilots and technicians. We have gone through the motions of making a new generation fighter and faced many difficulties. The induction of Tejas into IAF will being soon and that should silence most of the critics. Plane-making a serious business and making military platforms is a complex exercise. We have covered some distance and Tejas is the answer,” he said.

Copyright@The New Indian Express