LCA Tejas Mk1 & Mk1A - News and discussions

Sathya said:
How to avoid delays in additional 97 Mk1As.

1. Give contract on time
2. Place order of Ge F 404 In20 ahead of time Or make in India to have more control
3. If improvements are sought to have Mk 2 features like side stick, Large are display cockpit etc like sport variant, approve and certify ahead to schedule.

We don't want to see repeat of all the delays again.
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What we need is a single-window clearance system for big ticket procurement programs like Mk1A, with officials from MoD, MoF and the armed forces working in tandem. The current system (DAC clearance, followed by dozens of approvals at multiple levels before final CCS sign-off) has stopped time-critical acquistions like extra C-17s in the past (Boeing had only a few available to sell, before the production line was shut.)

I'm hoping the CDS would be able to push for reforms in this regard as head of the Dept of Mil Affairs. He's likely to come up against opposition like it happened back in 2011 when the IAF requested that a serving officer be appointed as HAL CMD to expedite lagging projects. But the military fraternity now has men inside the govt in VK Singh and Rakesh Bhadauria. The recommendations of a four-star (CDS) will be taken more seriously than before, one hopes.
 
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Speedster1 said:
What we need is a single-window clearance system for big ticket procurement programs like Mk1A, with officials from MoD, MoF and the armed forces working in tandem. The current system (DAC clearance, followed by dozens of approvals at multiple levels before final CCS sign-off) has stopped time-critical acquistions like extra C-17s in the past (Boeing had only a few available to sell, before the production line was shut.)

I'm hoping the CDS would be able to push for reforms in this regard as head of the Dept of Mil Affairs. He's likely to come up against opposition like it happened back in 2011 when the IAF requested that a serving officer be appointed as HAL CMD to expedite lagging projects. But the military fraternity now has men inside the govt in VK Singh and Rakesh Bhadauria. The recommendations of a four-star (CDS) will be taken more seriously than before, one hopes.
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Very good suggestion👍
 
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lcafanboy said:
There's also another pylon that carries lightening pod too being converted to multiple rack pylon...
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Interesting. I thought only the outer pylon was getting a dual rack to make room for SPJ on the other side. Do you have any pics or reference links on the intake pylon going dual rack?
 
ELTA ELL-8222 SPJ LCA

ELTA ELL-8222 SPJ
 
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Sathya said:
How to avoid delays in additional 97 Mk1As.

1. Give contract on time
2. Place order of Ge F 404 In20 ahead of time Or make in India to have more control
3. If improvements are sought to have Mk 2 features like side stick, Large are display cockpit etc like sport variant, approve and certify ahead to schedule.

We don't want to see repeat of all the delays again.
Click to expand...

The second order was expected in 2024, not sure if it's changed or still the same. So it's not a problem with ordering in time. The issue interestingly is GE claims the order for 99 engines came as a surprise to them. As mentioned before, they were preparing for Red Hawk, a simpler engine, so all their certification timelines were for this program, not LCA. The Korean T-50 family also uses the simpler engine, plus they assembled the engine.
 
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Speedster1 said:
What we need is a single-window clearance system for big ticket procurement programs like Mk1A, with officials from MoD, MoF and the armed forces working in tandem. The current system (DAC clearance, followed by dozens of approvals at multiple levels before final CCS sign-off) has stopped time-critical acquistions like extra C-17s in the past (Boeing had only a few available to sell, before the production line was shut.)

I'm hoping the CDS would be able to push for reforms in this regard as head of the Dept of Mil Affairs. He's likely to come up against opposition like it happened back in 2011 when the IAF requested that a serving officer be appointed as HAL CMD to expedite lagging projects. But the military fraternity now has men inside the govt in VK Singh and Rakesh Bhadauria. The recommendations of a four-star (CDS) will be taken more seriously than before, one hopes.
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Not a good idea in a still young country like India. More efficiency can also mean more power is concentrated in one office, and greater are the opportunities for corruption. We are still not ready to be that mature.

Direct military involvement in some strategic projects is definitely necessary.
 
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randomradio said:
Not a good idea in a still young country like India. More efficiency can also mean more power is concentrated in one office, and greater are the opportunities for corruption
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Tell that to people like Baba Kalyani who has said on record said the 7 year procurement cycle is unsustainable for pvt sector players with no govt backing. Corruption is a systemic issue that can addressed to an extent with removing the paper trial and digitising defence procurement and accounting and reforming the bureauracy. Though I agree that the govt will need to be careful when picking fights with the babus who ultimately run the country. They won't give up control so easily.
 
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Speedster1 said:
Tell that to people like Baba Kalyani who has said on record said the 7 year procurement cycle is unsustainable for pvt sector players with no govt backing. Corruption is a systemic issue that can addressed to an extent with removing the paper trial and digitising defence procurement and accounting and reforming the bureauracy. Though I agree that the govt will need to be careful when picking fights with the babus who ultimately run the country. They won't give up control so easily.
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The focus is on indigenization and bringing the private sector in a big way into such projects. Otoh, import programs are basically left for FOEMs to decide how they wanna go about it.

As for the small procurement cycle, that's only because orders are small today, that will change with indigenous systems. For example, we will eventually jump from 3 or 4 ships ordered from a shipyard at a time to 10+ in the future. That's just dependent on India's increasing funds. For example, the next destroyer program will be for 8 ships, and will naturally see follow-ons, so it will be a 20 to 30 year project.

Once large scale imports end, we will be able to create a one-stop solution.
 
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