Naval LCA at striking distance for deck operations from INS Vikramaditya

A combo of photos merged digitally show how it would look like when NLCA takes off from the deck of INS Vikramaditya.

By Anantha Krishnan M 

@Onmanorama

Bengaluru: The naval variant of home-grown Light Combat Aircraft (NLCA) is at a striking distance from undertaking the much-awaited, maiden carrier landing and taking off on board INS Vikramaditya. The Indian Navy is currently studying all the data before giving the go-ahead to the team to undertake deck landing on the mighty aircraft carrier.
Two pilots from the Test team have flown close to 30-plus approaches to INS Vikramaditya during the recent campaign. The pilots flew very close over the ship deck. The approaches were to understand the characteristics and controllability of the aircraft.

Read full report, here:https://english.manoramaonline.com/news/nation/2019/12/30/naval-nca-striking-distance-deck-operations-ins-vikramaditya.html

Shore-Based Test Facility nearing completion in Goa | NP-1 set for low-speed taxi trials in Bangalore

The above photographs are likely to be the first-time (!!) shots of SBTF at INS Hansa (Goa) made available to public domain. 

By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service

Bangalore: India’s first Shore-Based Test Facility (SBTF) is nearing completion. Built at the Naval Air Station, INS Hansa in Goa, the facility would replicate as a static model of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) being built at the Cochin Shipyard. The SBTF would have a 14 deg parabolic profile ski-jump for take-off and an arresting gear for landing.
Sources told Express that all stage design documents of the facility have been received from the Russian side. “The take-off area is nearing completion and the progress of arrester gear structure manufacturing and site work is on schedule. The factory acceptance test (FAT) of all five Russian specialized equipment has been completed at original equipment manufacturer (OEM) premises,” sources said.
The Russians (JSC Rosoboronexport) are executing the design consultancy and supply of specialized equipment work as per a 2009-pact, valued at $60 m. The approximate budget provision for Indian participants is about Rs 175 crore.
The equipment from Russian are expected this year, with the take-off area scheduled to be completed by June this year and landing area by the end of 2012.
The primary objective of SBTF is for certification of LCA Navy aircraft for ship-borne operations. This is the mandatory requirement prior to aircraft operations are taken up from the IAC (INS Vikrant) for carrier compatibility test (CCT). “The facility will ensure timely induction of Naval LCA (NLCA) into naval service and conserve ship-based test flying effort. Apart from the flight testing of NLCA, the SBTF can be subsequently used for training of naval pilots on NLCA and MiG 29K. The SBTF will be the one-of-its-kind facility in the South Asian region. The US and Ukraine have a similar facility.
The SBTF will be a equipped with restraining gear system with ski-jump for take-off, arresting gear system for landing, optical landing system, TV landing control system, light signaling system and other associated auxiliary units, exactly similar to the IAC.
Spearheaded by the NLCA programme office in Bangalore, the complete structural work and system integration of SBTF is being carried out by Goa Shipyard Ltd. The Civil Engineering activity is being undertaken by CCER&D (West), Pune in collaboration with R&DE (Engineers), Pune. A telemetry ground station with the state-of-the-art technology is being setup for flight operations by the National Flight Test Centre (NFTC), Bangalore.
While the SBTF work is probably ahead of the schedule, sources say that the eagerly-awaited first flight of NLCA (Naval Prototype NP-1) is on course. The platform is said to have undergone a trial for nose-wheel checks (70 km) on Valentine’s Day, while a LSTT (low-speed taxi trial) at a possible max speed of 140 km/hour is scheduled for February 18. This would be followed by a HSTT (high-speed taxi trial) at a maximum speed of 200-200 km/hour and then the subsequent first flight.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

Releasing soon: Shore-Based Test Facility (SBTF) for NLCA

 

Stand-by for some interesting insights into India's state-of-the-art

facility in Goa, exclusively created for NLCA. The

Shore-Based Test Facility (SBTF) will give the Indian Navy

that extra edge to all future naval aircraft projects.

Tech leap to future naval aircraft projects with LCA Navy on 'countdown' mode

 By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore:  India's self-reliance capabilities in taking up naval aircraft projects in future is sure to get a fillip with the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) beginning the 'countdown of sort'  for the first flight of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Naval Prototype (NP-1). The inspiring bit of this project is probably the maturing of a military industrial complex and the technological leap of Indian defence units – both government-owned and private sector.

The unique requirement of naval aircraft is the complex amalgamation of saline and humid environment of operation, restricted availability of deck run for launch or recovery and high operating load conditions. Such intricate needs call for basic design change to suit the carrier operations leading to strengthening of aircraft structure and landing gear, inclusion of leading edge vortex control (LEVCON) and arrester hook, improved engine, enhanced aerodynamic performance and incorporation of special material.  

The LEVCON surface is fitted at the front tip of the aircraft wing to ensure low landing speed, good controllability and better vision for the pilot.  Such a surface is used on state-of-the-art US marine aircraft F-18.  Usually, in leading and trailing edges linear actuators are used, however, the LEVCON was a biggest challenge to the designer as it has to be operated by a concealed rotary actuator with aerodynamic profiling of the connecting surface. The rotary actuator was designed in collaboration with foreign vendor.

“It threw related challenging requirement of testing and certification at a safety factor of 150 percent of maximum working load.  The LEVCON test rig was designed in-house along with a dummy test specimen rotary actuator with similar specifications to avoid loss of usable item, thus saving few crores of rupees to the exchequer,” sources told Express.          

The feature of launch and recovery onboard carrier was another herculean assignment to be managed. The flare-less landing with high sink rate of 7.1 m/sec and heavy thumping with engine to full throttle till arrested by deck cable, is akin to a controlled crash of the aircraft on the ship every time it operates. This yields five times of loading on main landing gear as compared to Tejas. Sources say that in horizontal direction, the arrested shock recovery produces axial loads on aircraft structure of the tune of 4.5 g, calling for re-certification of all line replacement units (LRUs), components and associated systems of naval version to ensure fail safe operation repeatedly. 

“The ramp takeoff switch ensures that the aircraft is prepared with pre-defined functionality of each system in ship-borne operational mode. This ensures safe launch at max capable all-up weight with full fuel and weapon stores from a ship ski jump of 14 deg ramp profile, when released from deck hydraulic stopper. Such a dramatic launch imposes harsh loading of nose-landing gear during take-off ski-jump run amounting to five times of the IAF Tejas values. All of a sudden the landing gear is un-loaded at the point of exit of the ramp and allowed to extend to its fullest stroke in a wink of a second,” say sources.

The take-off and landing logics are integrated in its quadruplex digital redundant flight control system and open architecture computer for efficient interface between the pilot and the aircraft with the aim of easing work-load during launch and recovery phase and fail safe operation.

The LCA Navy is designed for strict operating conditions and emergency recovery, in that it can bring back weight to landing limits, quickly by jettisoning 1000 kg fuel in three minutes with the help of specially-designed fuel dump system. The testing and certification of unique design features for LCA Navy called for systematic plan of action to create new test facilities and deep study of certification philosophy.

The ADA has designed and fabricated various types of simulators, including engineer-in-loop, real-time software development and maintenance. The shore-based test facility (SBTF) at Goa with ski-jump launch and arrested recovery similar to aircraft carrier is ready. The arrester hook test facility, LEVCON test rig and landing gear drop test rig are also developed in-house.

There are more than 100 agencies involved with the LCA-Navy project. They include DRDO, HAL, CSIR, PSUs, private sector and academia, spread all over India, ranging from NAL, CARE, DARE, CVRDE, , DEBEL, LRDE, Midhani, CSIO, TCS, IITs, IISc and Naval Aviation at NHQ.

Copyright@The New Indian Express.

BLOGGER'S NOTE: A trimmed version of the above report appeared in today’s Express. Additional inputs are added to the above report on the blog for the benefit of Tarmak007’s registered members, regular visitors, guests and ‘advisors.’ Please note that these information are collated from different sources in ADA, HAL, Navy and DRDO and stitched together in layman’s language. While I can vouch for the authenticity of inputs, you may please buzz me if I go wrong. It is tough to penetrate at times, especially to pocket photos from multiple sources. The watermarks on the photos are just reminders that these are not supplied to the blogger through some 'annual contract', but sourced by the blogger after constant-chase  and follow-ups. Tarmak007 salutes all sources & friends in DRDO, Navy, IAF, HAL and ADA, who often go out of their way to fetch authentic information on LCA. It has been a huge learning process for Tarmak007 every time a new project/technology is taken on the write path. I am delighted that all of you are also part of this inspiring journey!

Releasing soon: The making of LCA Navy (NP-1) & tech challenges

Naval aviation to hit new high with LCA NP-1 maiden flight | Taxi trials currently underway | Tech challenges almost iorned out

Naval LCA undergoes various tests at HAL airport ahead of its much-awaited first flight.

By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service

Bangalore:  The naval prototype (NP-1) of India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is slowly and steadily crossing every hurdle that has come up its way in the last 18 months. With a roll out rivaling even blockbuster movie releases in July 2010 -- the NP-1  -- believed to be the only naval aircraft in the light weight category in the world with aircraft carrier operational capabilities, will be airborne soon.
While its designers at Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and its makers at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) are not speaking officially and off the record, sources at the shop-floor who tweak technology for NP-1 daily, inform Express that ‘it is a matter of time before NP-1 hits the skies.’  Initially, it was envisaged that the naval aircraft will be a derivative of the Indian Air Force version of the LCA (Tejas). But the peculiar requirements of naval operations coupled with safety norms led to substantial differences in the aircraft structure, resulting in delays.
“The overwhelming challenge of large structural loads, better over the nose vision has lead to heavier undercarriage and re-design of the front fuselage. Commonality was achieved in only few mechanical systems and avionics. The stringent naval requirements and rigorous ground testing of various systems is nearing completion,” say sources.
The modification of flight control laws, cabin pressurization including environment control checks, laser precision alignments and host of associated naval flight critical systems are in its final stages.  “The landing gear with its high sink rate of 7.1 m/sec arising from ship deck requirement has imposed serious challenge to the designers, which has now been successfully circumvented. The NP-1 has completed its ground vibration test (GVT), structural coupling test (SCT) and extensive system integration tests with power plant using state-of-the-art facilities,” sources said.
Fuel management with dump facility for emergency recovery on board is a special feature of this aircraft.  The heart of the flight control system (FCS), which is a quadruplex redundant digital flight control computer supplemented by LEVCON (leading edge vortex controller) air data computer, is being integrated with auto throttle and arrester hook. “The LEVCON functionalities for conventional and ramp take-off is under regression checks for final assessment on various simulators prior to its implementation on the aircraft. The arrester hook design for ship-borne operations is yet another unique carrier borne feature,” sources said.
The aircraft so far has completed four engine ground runs (EGRs), including three with after burner for entire operational envelope.  “The platform is underway for low and high-speed ground handling and flying quality checks to assess the aircraft characteristics prior to its maiden flight,” sources said.
When specifically asked about a possible date by which NP-1 will finally do what it is meant to be – flying – sources said: “It is scheduled to fly this month. Many challenges are new and we are taking them head on.”

Copyright@The New Indian Express

Coming Soon: A close look at LCA Navy

A long weight! Bulky undercarriage delayed LCA NP-1 maiden flight; ADA-HAL burn the midnight oil baking Antony's X'Mas gift!

LCA NP-1 during the EGR at Old Bangalore Airport in September 2011. Photo: DRDO 

By Anantha Krishnan M.

Express News Service

Bangalore: It's official. The undercarriage of the naval version (Naval Prototype NP-1) of India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is bulky by 400-500 kg. The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), who are jointly developing the NP-1, is burning the midnight oil to iron out what they call 'nagging developmental issues.' NP-1 is a trainer with tandem seating and NP-2 will be a single-seat fighter.

Insiders associated with the programme attributed the delay in NP-1's first flight to the undercarriage. “In September 2010, we observed that the undercarriage was over-sized. During traction-retraction and the undercarriage's incorporation into the fuselage, there were many surprises awaiting us. This is a very critical piece with the hitting impact on the ship going to be much higher,” an official with HAL's Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) said. The official claimed that the issues related to the arrestor hook, landing gear and LEVCONs (control surfaces which allow for better low-speed handling) are being addressed completely. Interestingly, the undercarriage was built by HAL.

With the Naval Project Team (NPT) monitoring every bit of the NP-I closely, the official told The New Indian Express that all future aircraft in the naval programme will come with a new undercarriage. In September this year, NP-1 had successfully completed the engine ground run (EGR) and the taxi trials are set to begin soon. “We will fly the NP-I with the same undercarriage making some slight corrections. If a lighter undercarriage has to be integrated at this stage, it will delay the programme further. We cannot rush the project. Young boys are putting their hearts out and working seven days a week. Making planes are not child's play,” the official said.

Sources at ADA say that efforts are in full swing to make the fly NP-1 ahead of Navy Day (December 4). Capt Maolankar of National Flight Test Centre is likely to fly NP-1 on its maiden flight. During the roll out of NP-1 on July 6, 2010, an excited Defence Minister A K Antony had said that he was confident that the ADA-HAL-Navy team would swing it and make NP-1 fly by December end. “It will be the best New Year gift to the nation,” Antony had said then.

With yet another New Year throttling down for a landing, it is left to be seen whether Team NP-1 can gift Antony an X'Mas gift in the form of a first flight.

Weight and watch!

Copyright@The New Indian Express