LCA Tejas Mk1 & Mk1A - News and discussions

weight diff and size is abt 1 inch bigger for F414. Plus the airflow is much higher.

Actually, No they are not the same dimension. While both have a total length of 154 inch , the inlet diameter of F414 is 31 inch compared to 28 inch for the F404 which results in a need for a wider tail section. The F414 is heavier than the 404 which means you will need to strengthen the rear fuselage section and engine mounts. Another important factor is that F414 has an increased air flow, therefore the intakes will need to be redesigned and made wider. It's a significant redesign effort with more testing requirements, something the Mk1A is supposed to avoid. The whole idea of Mk1A is that testing time will be minimal, compared to MWF which will have a longer testing cycle.

Good Day!

A little birdie told me something very interesting. They will make Mk1A compatible with F414. It's unclear whether it will carry it right away or not, but it will become an engine option.

Also, the current intake design is sufficient for F414. The Mk1 was designed for Kaveri, which has higher mass flow than the F414. Not to mention, the Kaveri also had a greater weight margin than the F414, meaning the aircraft was already designed for a heavier engine in case it turned out the Kaveri will be at the higher end of its weight margin.

This was in relation to the original Mk2 from one of Saurav Jha's articles.
Contrary to earlier speculation, Dr Tamilmani says that the Tejas Mk-II does not require an intake re-design since the MK-I intake was in any case intended to be used with the Kaveri engine which has a greater mass flow than the current F404-GE-IN20 . Studies have shown that the existing intake can easily handle the additional mass flow from the F414-GE-INS6.

Theoretically, the Mk1A can use the full power of the engine, but it will blow through the fuel reserves quickly, so a derated engine is possible. But we shouldn't also forget that the original Mk2 design only had 20Kg more internal fuel.

Interesting times ahead.

@Shekhar Singh

The wiki specs you posted are correct. The specs mentioned are the total footprint of the engine. Both engines have the same footprint, which means any space that can handle F404 can handle F414 also. It's the fan diameter that's different.
 
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Credit to @deepfreak15 over at Team-bhp

Could we see this setup for the Mk1A? - Rafael Sky Shield?

Rafael SKY SHIELD – Airborne Support Jammer

 
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When are signing Mk1A contract.
3 years delivery time Hal has been explicitly said.
Any delay here is on IAF.
 
When are signing Mk1A contract.
3 years delivery time Hal has been explicitly said.
Any delay here is on IAF.

Sometime this year. So the program is already delayed by 1 year. Hence why the 2021 date, which required a signature last year, has been pushed to 2022.
 
Sometime this year. So the program is already delayed by 1 year. Hence why the 2021 date, which required a signature last year, has been pushed to 2022.
I think financial negotiations are in progress, Is there any news of Astra integration with LCA ?
 
See the MK1A pic below from AI2019. Is it chine from radome to wing joint. Was is planned?
 

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@Austerlitz @vstol Jockey


If we are going to replace the Tejas with the Mig-21. Does Tejas have the same features/characteristics of the Mig-21Bis, for Tejas to use the same combat tactics?

Speed wise - Both are 2.2 mach.
Stealth -Its even shorter than the mig-21 (13m to 16m)and due to use of composites and RAM coatings is more difficult to spot.Tejas also has wing blending and better engine position.
Maneuverability -LCA has better TW ratio which gives it better lift,as well as better wing loading.Its delta design makes it far more maneuverable.
Radar - Mig-21's radar is thoroughly outclassed by the elta multimode or the aesa in tejas.
Tejas has better avionics as well.

Tejas ,a more modern fighter is better in nearly every aspect.Its weaknesses are maybe lack of integral EW suite(unless there has been new developments) and internal jammer,and more importantly combat range.But this doesn't matter as much because IAF intends to use it more as a point defence fighter,for which it is eminently suitable.Tejas is not as limited as the mig-21 which was primarily point defence high speed interceptor and can be employed for diverse role including ground attack,albeit within its limited combat radius.I don't think tejas can be used effectively to replace the mig-27 in its role but the mig-21 certainly.
 
Speed wise - Both are 2.2 mach.
Stealth -Its even shorter than the mig-21 (13m to 16m)and due to use of composites and RAM coatings is more difficult to spot.Tejas also has wing blending and better engine position.
Maneuverability -LCA has better TW ratio which gives it better lift,as well as better wing loading.Its delta design makes it far more maneuverable.
Radar - Mig-21's radar is thoroughly outclassed by the elta multimode or the aesa in tejas.
Tejas has better avionics as well.

Tejas ,a more modern fighter is better in nearly every aspect.Its weaknesses are maybe lack of integral EW suite(unless there has been new developments) and internal jammer,and more importantly combat range.But this doesn't matter as much because IAF intends to use it more as a point defence fighter,for which it is eminently suitable.Tejas is not as limited as the mig-21 which was primarily point defence high speed interceptor and can be employed for diverse role including ground attack,albeit within its limited combat radius.I don't think tejas can be used effectively to replace the mig-27 in its role but the mig-21 certainly.

LCA got RWR, MWR?
 
Speed wise - Both are 2.2 mach.
Stealth -Its even shorter than the mig-21 (13m to 16m)and due to use of composites and RAM coatings is more difficult to spot.Tejas also has wing blending and better engine position.
Maneuverability -LCA has better TW ratio which gives it better lift,as well as better wing loading.Its delta design makes it far more maneuverable.
Radar - Mig-21's radar is thoroughly outclassed by the elta multimode or the aesa in tejas.
Tejas has better avionics as well.

Agree with most of this except the speed. The Tejas is about mach 1.8 whereas the Mig 21 can go beyond mach 2 quite easily. But this isnt really needed is it?
 
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Agree with most of this except the speed. The Tejas is about mach 1.8 whereas the Mig 21 can go beyond mach 2 quite easily. But this isnt really needed is it?

Yeah,messed that up.High speed is good for interceptors,but mig21 has quite high drag , turn radius and less maneuverability.
 
Tejas MK1 has a max speed 1.4 to 1.6 mach.



Tejas MK1 only has RWR and CFDS. A ELTA jammer is planned for MK1A and MWR/MAWS is planned for Tejas MK2.

So no MWR/MAWS?

How then it will detect or probably know that a missile is on air targeted against it?