Mk2 is a stretched out Mk1. It's a low risk design, so there really shouldn't be any problems. Personally, I don't believe ADA will meet their 2028 goal, perhaps 2030. A 4-5 year testing cycle should be sufficient even if ADA thinks it's gonna be 3.
Tejas Mk2 (Medium Weight Fighter) - News and discussions
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Mk2 is a stretched out Mk1. It's a low risk design, so there really shouldn't be any problems. Personally, I don't believe ADA will meet their 2028 goal, perhaps 2030. A 4-5 year testing cycle should be sufficient even if ADA thinks it's gonna be 3.
Kahani mein twist ...he seems to be endorsing first flight by 2025 by the looks of it . Jajajajajaja....
There has to be T/L. In the absence of any trustworthy sources all we can do is look up to people with some credibility & go by what they're saying. Or look up to amateur experts as I call them who seek to connect the dots.
The same ADA DRDO & HAL had something else to say during AERO India 2021. This time they didn't go about saying much. In any case this is India where Murphy's Law rules. Hence the need for succour which is why storytelling flourishes whether in here or out there.
Add a powerfull AESA radar (thanks to the huge nose cone of MKI) and you will have a fierce fighter.
When I said MKI should/will have a powerful GaN based AESA radar because we have made a breakthrough in this field,no one and I mean absolutely NO ONE here believed me......until this auto expo....
Just within few years MKI UPG will have GaN based AESA radar, Super Digital RWR that covers ultra wideband frequencies from 1 GHz to 40GHz(just like Gripen-E), GaN based twin jamming pods and QWIP IRST.
With all of the above and much more if will definitely be a 'fiend of the sky'(said it before).
Rafale+ MKI UPG.+ Tejas MK2 + AMCA and our AF's future prospect is looking very bright.
Sole remaining weakness of Su : huge RCS.When I said MKI should/will have a powerful GaN based AESA radar because we have made a breakthrough in this field,no one and I mean absolutely NO ONE here believed me......until this auto expo....
Just within few years MKI UPG will have GaN based AESA radar, Super Digital RWR that covers ultra wideband frequencies from 1 GHz to 40GHz(just like Gripen-E), GaN based twin jamming pods and QWIP IRST.
With all of the above and much more if will definitely be a 'fiend of the sky'(said it before).
Rafale+ MKI UPG.+ Tejas MK2 + AMCA and our AF's future prospect is looking very bright.
Would love to see most jet rcs via the new gen rus radar , would be able to count number of times the elevons move from hundreds of miles. Now, just a matter of maturing enough to be scaled down for mass use.
During early 2000s MKI's true predecessor Su-35(Su-27M) had extensive RAM coatings around engine intake and other areas which produced bigger RCS spikes and they cut the RCS by around 20dB. All these RCS reduction techniques and more were applied to the MKI. MKI's RCS is much lesser than older Su-27 and Su-30 than people know or assume.
As far addressing the RCS problem during the upgrade, we may see two scenarios:
1. Change the skin to carbon composites and put a radar blocker.
2. MKI's strength against non-VLO fighters(who carry weapons outside), was always its powerful radar. The enemy jet might have lower RCS than MKI, but BARS still because of its brute power would detect you first.
During the upgrade, we are going to put GaN based AESA radar in MKI. That once again changes the equation. Any fighter that fights MKI that is not stealth and carries its missiles outside is going to be toast.
The second scenario is definitely happening. Regarding the first, lets see what IAF finally decides.
People always make fuss about MKI's barn door RCS so much so that this tweet from an operational IAF pilot gets lost:
Link:
If Rafale, Typhoon, Gripen and all other modern 4+ gen fighters are carrying 6 missiles with EFTs then they will picked up at the same range at which MKI would be detected. Where is the barn door RCS?
@randomradio @vstol Jockey @Parthu
It's misleading.
From the front (not all-aspect), the MKI's RCS has reduced to 3-4m2 due to inlet treatment, so from one aspect it will look small when carrying missiles versus most other older aircraft when carrying AAMs and drop tanks. But there are two flaws, one is most other aircraft will drop their "drop" tanks before combat.
The second flaw is while the MKI's massive radar will allow quicker detection against aircraft with smaller radars, like the LCA and Eurocanards, the MKI's main threats are aircraft like the J-20 and J-16 with similar-sized radars.
If you take ACT out of the equation, then the MKI is competitive with pretty much any 4th gen jet even with its older avionics, including the J-16, it only needs a better BVR missile and even its current EW suite is pretty good. Even against aircraft like the Rafale and Typhoon, although it will be much more detectable on IRST, it can use its massive fuel loads to keep up with them even in the supersonic regime.
Bring ACT in, the MKI stands no chance, because HVT is referring to equal RCS, not lesser than. And the main MKI competitor very likely has an even smaller RCS than an ACT-capable Rafale today. The MKI is basically not competitive with what it's supposed to fight. So any other comparison is moot.
The Chinese can render EW suites useless as well, even they have IRST and IR missiles.
There is one and only one way to make the MKI relevant, and that's to very, very quickly introduce a survivable sensor that can reliably detect the J-20 from a tactically relevant distance, at least before the Taiwan war happens. It doesn't matter if it's a single radar type or a multistatic system, it doesn't have to be on the MKI either, but if it doesn't exist, then the MKI, even the MLU'd version, will be irrelevant.
Being as good as other 4th gen jets is irrelevant. The only question that needs answering is if the MKI can fight the J-20 and generate an acceptable kill ratio.
He thinks that adding exotic radar will turn mki a silver bullet, it like saying u can turn an eighty year old guy a Jonny sin or Manuel ferrera by operating a 20 yera old guy's pen!s on that old man.
This is an excellent post
. Can we put our dual-band QWIP IRST before Taiwan war? I don't know! It has entered lab tests currently. Then it would need to be validated on a real plane. May take few years, so maybe around 2025-26, we're looking at MKI equipped with new gen IRST. This is a high priority sensor. IAF knows what their enemy has(J-20). MKI can't kill J-20 with even GaN based radar. It needs new gen IRST, sensor fused with the radar to do the job.Even our Rafale has also got reportedly very long IRST. Whether it is QWIP based or not, maybe @Picdelamirand-oil could verify!
This is an excellent post
Even our Rafale has also got reportedly very long IRST. Whether it is QWIP based or not, maybe @Picdelamirand-oil could verify!
2026 is the fastest we can manage.
And IRST is a secondary sensor, it's not reliable.
Rafale uses an MCT-based dual band IRST before. Not sure about now, ever since Thales bought the company that made Typhoon's PIRATE.
PIRATE is definitely QWIP based. And IRST is the primary sensor to hunt VLO targets. Even French consider Rafale's OSF as its primary sensor in a dense environment. Rafale's entire doctrine is around OSF providing close firing solution to MICA-IR completely passively.
The French Rafale pilots mainly use a CCD camera, their Rafales don't have IRST.
It's not enough against more advanced jets, especially if those jets can use radar against the Rafale reliably.
Yes, Thermal Visual camera. Our Rafale has got legit very long IRST, but the actual detection range is classified.
They can't. SPECTRA is there to provide EM safety bubble to Rafale. Even @vstol Jockey sir categorically said that even a supercruising J-20 is at a disadvantage against Rafale's IRST.
Yes, before you say, I know J-20 also has got EOTS like IRST. So...
So, LCA mk2 is delayed hence the reason for 50 more LCA mk1a to keep line busy...
Ho Gaya Atmanirbhar Bharat....
Also, it feels like AMCA is delayed to make way for mk2 in the timeline.
So, LCA mk2 is delayed hence the reason for 50 more LCA mk1a to keep line busy...
Ho Gaya Atmanirbhar Bharat....