HAL Tejas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_Tejas

The HAL Tejas is an Indian single-seat, single-jet engine, multirole light
fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. It came from
the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace
India's ageing MiG-21 fighters. In 2003, the LCA was officially named "Tejas".

Tejas has a tail-less compound delta-wing configuration with a single dorsal
fin. This provides for high maneuverability. Its wing root leading edge has a
sweep of 50 degrees, the outer wing leading edge has a sweep of 62.5 degrees,
and trailing edge has a forward sweep of four degrees. It integrates
technologies such as relaxed static stability, fly-by-wire flight control
system, multi-mode radar, integrated digital avionics system, composite material
structures, and a flat rated engine. It is the smallest and lightest in its
class of contemporary supersonic combat aircraft.

The Tejas is the second supersonic fighter developed by Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL) after the HAL HF-24 Marut. As of 2016 the Tejas Mark 1 is in
production for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the naval version is undergoing
flight tests for Indian Navy (IN). The projected requirement for the IAF is 200
single-seat fighters and 20 twin-seat trainers, while the IN expects to operate
40 single-seat fighters. The first Tejas IAF unit, No. 45 Squadron IAF Flying
Daggers was formed on 1 July 2016 with two aircraft. Initially being stationed
at Bangalore, the first squadron will be placed at its home base at Sulur, Tamil
Nadu.

The Minister of State for Defence, Subhash Bhamre, reported to parliament that
the indigenous content of the Tejas is 59.7% by value and 75.5% by number of
line replaceable units.

In 1983, IAF realised the need for an Indian combat aircraft for two primary
purposes. The principal and most obvious goal was to replace India's ageing
MiG-21 fighters, which had been the mainstay of the IAF since the 1970s. The
"Long Term Re-Equipment Plan 1981" noted that the MiG-21s would be approaching
the end of their service lives by the mid-1990s, and that by 1995, the IAF would
lack 40 percent of the aircraft needed to fill its projected force structure
requirements. The LCA programme's other main objective was an across-the-board
advancement of India's domestic aerospace industry. The value of the aerospace
"self-reliance" initiative is not simply the aircraft's production, but also the
building of a local industry capable of creating state-of-the-art products with
commercial spin-offs for a global market.

Project definition commenced in October 1987 with France's Dassault-Breguet
Aviation as consultants. Dassault-Breguet were to assist in the design and
systems integration of the aircraft, with 30 top-flight engineers reported to
have flown to India to act as technical advisers to IADA, in exchange for $100m
/ ?560 crore (equivalent to ?50 billion or US$690 million in 2017), this phase
was completed in September 1988.


National origin
India

Manufacturer
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)

Design group
Aeronautical Development Agency

First flight
4 January 2001

Introduction
17 January 2015

Status
In service

Primary user
Indian Air Force

Produced
2001–present

Number built
26 (including prototypes as of July 2018)

Program cost
?7,399.69 crore (US$1 billion) (LCA total in 2015)

Unit cost

?162 crore (US$23 million) for Mk 1
?463 crore (US$64 million) for Mk 1A

The formation of the first Tejas-equipped squadron started in July 2011. The
Tejas entered service with No. 45 Squadron IAF (Flying Daggers) based at the
Yelahanka Air Base at Bangalore on 1 July 2016 before being moved to Sulur Air
Force Station in Coimbatore. The squadron will initially have four aircraft. The
IAF's Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment will receive four aircraft
already built including two development aircraft.

The Tejas made its international debut on 21 January 2016, when two aircraft
flew in the Bahrain International Air Show.

On 21 November 2016, the Indian Ministry of Defence said that they're proposing
to have the Tejas exported with preliminary talks taking place with some
friendly countries.

In June 2017, Hindustan Aeronautics stated that it expects to have delivered 123
Tejas aircraft to the Indian Air Force by 2024–25. HAL outlined a three–pronged
approach to accelerate aircraft production. It will build an additional assembly
line, reuse the Hawk assembly line, and outsource major components to the
private sector.

Specifications (HAL Tejas Mk 1)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Payload: 3,500 kg (7,716 lb) external stores
Length: 13.20 m (43 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 8.20 m (26 ft 11 in)
Height: 4.40 m (14 ft 9 in)
Wing area: 38.4 m² (413 ft²)
Empty weight: 6,560 kg (14,300 lb)
Loaded weight: 9,800 kg (21,605 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 13,500 kg (29,100 lb)
Internal fuel capacity: 2,458 kg
External fuel capacity: 2 x 1,200-litre drop tank inboard, 1 x 725-litre drop
tank under fuselage
Powerplant: 1 × General Electric F404-GE-IN20 turbofan Dry thrust: 53.9 kN
(12,100 lbf)
Thrust with afterburner: 89.8 kN (20,200 lbf)


Performance
Maximum speed: Mach 1.8 (2,205 km/h); Mach 1.6 (2,000 km/h) for IOC version;
Range: 850 km (459 nmi, 528 mi)
Combat radius: 500 km (270 nmi, 310 mi) with drop tanks
Ferry range: 1,750 km (1,087 mi) with drop tanks
Service ceiling: 16,000 m (52,500 ft)
Wing loading: 255 kg/m² (52 lb/ft²)
Thrust/weight: 0.96
g-limits: +8/-3.5 g

Armament

Guns: 1× mounted 23 mm twin-barrel GSh-23 cannon with 220 rounds of ammunition
Hardpoints: 8 (1× beneath the port-side intake trunk for targeting pods, 6×
wing, and 1× fuselage) with a capacity of 3,500 kg external fuel and ordnance
and provisions to carry combinations of: Rockets: S-8 rocket pods (expected)
Missiles:
Air-to-air missiles: Derby
Python-5 (expected)
R-73

Air-to-surface missiles: Kh-59 (expected)
DRDO Anti-Radiation Missile (expected)

Anti-ship missiles: Kh-31 (expected)
Kh-35 (expected)


Bombs:
Laser-guided bombs
Glide bombs
Cluster weapons (expected)

Other:
Drop tanks for ferry flight/extended range/loitering time
LITENING GR4 targeting pod



Avionics

Hybrid version of Israel's Elta EL/M-2032 multi-mode fire control radar



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