Make In India Tejas Radome, Tejas Mk2 Might Freeze, India Delays Ka-226T Deal

Tejas Mk2 Program could be Torpedoed by IAF

Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari since taking office has not been talking about the Tejas Mk2 program when he is talking about future fighter jet procurement plans that even media along with analysts have started to notice these repeated omissions but now credible information coming from people in touch with IAF top Brass says that concerns are well founded and IAF fears that Tejas Mk2 program might be used by Government of India to sabotage or downgrade MRFA requirements for 114 jets.

IAF is keen to fast track Request For Proposal Stage in the MRFA competition by mid of 2022 and if it manages to secure a Government nod for 114 jets then the Tejas Mk2 program has fighting chances as IAF Top Brass seems to be losing patience with the government, while the last tranche of Rafale is on the verge of being handed over to IAF in coming weeks.

Fears that IAF might jump from Tejas Mk1A a 4.5 generation fighter directly to the 5th generation AMCA fighter jet is turning out to be true as IAF Top Brass seems to be more interested in securing orders for a foreign jet particularly 90 Rafale over Tejas Mk2 that could have emerged perfect candidate to replace MiG-29, Mirage-2000 and Jaguar fleet.

Many Analysts have also pointed out a flaw in thinking in IAF, that it is simply not working to get combat squadron strength back to its sanctioned numbers for possible too front war and instead is obsessing over Rafale for way too long that is ready to abandon single engine fighter like Tejas Mk2 that could have brought mix fleet of single and twin engine fighter jet ratio back as present aircraft procurement by IAF is tilting towards more Twin engine jets that usually have 30-40% higher operating costs per hour due to additional fuel consumption by the second engine.

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Aeronautical Development Agency working on Indigenous Radome for Tejas Mk1A

The Aeronautical Development Agency has started experimenting and testing a new radome for the LCA Tejas fleet that will eventually replace Cobham supplied Quartz Radome Nose cone for the upcoming upgraded Tejas Mk1A fleet. Aeronautical Development Agency already had designed an in-house Radome Nose cone for the LCA Tejas Program, but in 2012 started looking for alternative radome for LCA as part of their product improvement activity.  

Aeronautical Development Agency back then had confirmed that the existing Radome Nose cone in Tejas had issues with the lightning protection system and there was rainwater ingress at the radome fuselage junction in the current structure. Later British company Cobham won the tender and started supply of Quartz Radome Nose cone from 2015 onwards and it was first seen on LSP-3 and later in all the LSP, IOC, and FOC jets that went into production in later years.  

The length of the new radome remains more or less same at 1970mm against Cobham supplied Quartz Radome Nose cone that was 1972mm but the diameter at the fuselage interface is now 892mm against 883.5mm seen in the present Nose cone supplied by Cobham. Aeronautical Development Agency already had developed a pre-production Radome Nose cone for the AMCA program for testing purposes and it seems technology developed is been adapted for the Tejas Mk2 and Tejas Mk1A program.

Taking Advantage of LUH, India puts brakes on Kamov-226T deal

India won’t go ahead with building Russian helicopters locally under a $1 billion deal when President Vladimir Putin visits New Delhi next week.

Instead, there might be off the shelf purchases of some of the Kamov-226T military choppers as the Indian Air Force needs to make immediate replacements to its fleet of over 320 aging helicopters. The military is currently fortifying its western and northern borders as tensions with China fester.

India initially inked the deal in 2015 with the Russians for 200 of the Kamov twin engine utility helicopters. Of this, 60 choppers were to be imported and the remaining would be manufactured locally under a venture between the Bengaluru defense public sector unit Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Russian Helicopters.

However, the Kamov project had very few backers within a government that was keen on boosting the local defense manufacturing under Prime Minister Narendra Modis “Make in India” initiative. Also, helicopters with coaxial rotors like the Kamov are costlier to maintain in comparison to the traditional ones.

India’s earlier talks with the Russians on using more locally manufactured parts were inconclusive and HAL had since developed a light utility helicopter similar to the Kamov.

Since then New Delhi has gone ahead with ordering 12 helicopters from HAL. These choppers have cleared most of the field tests and will come under a limited series production just as the Karnataka-based manufacturing plant gets online.

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