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* It was in 1984
that the government of India first moved decisively to kick-start the process
to build an indigenous aircraft. Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) was
set up by the government to develop the programme.
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* In 1986, Rs 575
crores were allocated by the then government towards funding the programme.
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* On January 4th,
2001, the light combat aircraft made its first flight, a milestone in the
Indian aviation industry. Then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee named the
aircraft ‘Tejas’ – which means ‘radiance’ in Sanskrit.
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* The induction
of Tejas comes at an important time when the IAF has wanted to desperately
replace it with the ageing fleet of MiG-21, responsible for so many crashes.
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* The aircraft is
equipped to handle air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, anti-ship
missiles, bombs and rockets.
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* The aircraft’s
structure is composed of 42% carbon fibre composites, 43% aluminium alloy and
the remainder titanium alloy.
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* The aircraft is
being developed in single-seat fighter and twin-seat trainer variants for the
IAF and the Navy.
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* Earlier this
year, the aircraft participated in its first foreign show at the Bahrain
International Air Show 2016 where aircraft enthusiasts compared it to
Pakistan’s JF-17 Thunder, that was produced with the help of China.
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* It is
considered to be the lightest multi-role supersonic aircraft of its class.
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* The aircraft
can travel at a maximum speed of 2,205 km/hr for FOC version and 2,000 km/hr
for IOC version.
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Weapons
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The aircraft has
eight external hardpoints to carry stores, with three under each wing, one on
the centre fuselage and one installed under the air intake on the port side.
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A 23mm
twin-barrelled GSh-23 gun with a burst firing rate of 50 rounds a second and
muzzle velocity of 715m a second is installed in a blister fairing under the
starboard air intake.
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The aircraft can
be armed with air-to-air, air-to-ground and anti-ship missiles,
precision-guided munitions, rockets and bombs. Electronic warfare, targeting,
surveillance, reconnaissance or training pods can be carried on the
hardpoints. Drop tanks can also be carried.
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In October 2007,
the aircraft successfully test-fired the R-73 air-to-air missile.
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The Vympel R-73
(Nato codename AA-11 Archer) missile is an all-aspect short-range missile
with cooled infrared homing. It can intercept targets at altitudes between
0.02km and 20km, g-load to 12g and with target speeds of up to 2,500km/h.
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The Indian
Government will purchase Derby beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles
(BVR-AAM) from Rafael Advanced Defence Systems to incorporate on 200
aircraft..
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These missiles
are expected to be delivered by the end of 2012. They will supersede Astra
BVR-AAM and accelerate the development process. The weapon tests on Tejas
were carried out at the Pokhran range in September 2011.
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The aircraft's
electronic warfare suite, developed by the Advanced Systems Integration and
Evaluation Organisation (ASIEO) of Bangalore, includes a radar warning
receiver and jammer, laser warner, missile approach warner and chaff and
flare dispenser.
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Armament
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Guns: 1× mounted
23 mm twin-barrel GSh-23 cannon with 220 rounds of ammunition
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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:
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Rockets: S-8
rocket pods, Bofors 135 mm rocket
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Missiles:
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Air-to-air
missiles:
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Astra
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Derby
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Python-5
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R-77
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R-73 (missile)
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Air-to-surface
missiles:
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DRDO
Anti-Radiation Missile
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Kh-59ME
(TV-guided standoff missile)
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Kh-59MK
(Laser-guided standoff missile)
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Anti-ship
missiles
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Kh-35
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Kh-31
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Bombs:
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KAB-1500L
laser-guided bombs
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GBU-16 Paveway II
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FAB-250
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ODAB-500PM
fuel-air explosives
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ZAB-250/350
incendiary bombs
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BetAB-500Shp
powered concrete-piercing bombs
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FAB-500T gravity
bombs
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OFAB-250-270
gravity bombs
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OFAB-100-120
gravity bombs
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RBK-500 cluster
bomb stake
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Other:
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Drop tanks for
ferry flight/extended range/loitering time
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LITENING
targeting pod
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Avionics
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Hybrid version of
Israel’s Elta EL/M-2032 multi-mode fire control radar
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Sensors and radar
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Electronics
Research and Development Establishment and HAL have jointly developed the
aircraft's multimode radar. The radar has multiple target search and
track-while-scan and ground-mapping modes of operation. It includes pulse
Doppler radar with Doppler beam shaping, moving target indication and look-up
/ look-down capability. The radar is mounted in a Kevlar radome
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Comparision between
Pakistan’s Chinese JF-17 .vs Indian Tejas
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Plane
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JF-17
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LCA
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Length
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14m
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13.2m
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Wingspan
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9.45m
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8.20m
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Height
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4.77m
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4.40m
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Wing Area
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24.4m2
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38.4m2
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Empty Weight
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6,411 kg
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6560 kg
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Loaded Weight
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9,100kg
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10,500 kg
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Max. Take off Weight
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12,700 kg
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13,300 kg
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Powerplant
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1 × Klimov RD-93
or WS-13 turbofan
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1 × General
Electric F404-GE-IN20 turbofan
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Dry Thrust
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49.4Kn
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53.9Kn
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Thrust with Afterburner
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84.4Kn
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85Kn
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G-limit
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+8.5 g
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9 to (neg)3.5 g
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Internal Fuel Capacity
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2300 kg
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2458 kg
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External fuel capacity:
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3 external fuel
drop tanks (1× under-fuselage 800 litres, 2× under-wing 800/1100 litres each)
for extended range/loitering time
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2x1200 litre drop
tank at inboard, 1x725 litre drop tank under fuselage.
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Crew
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1
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1
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Maximum speed
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Mach 1.8
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Mach 1.8
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Ferry range
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3,480 km
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3,000 km
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Service ceiling
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16,920 m
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15,250 m
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Thrust/weight
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0.95
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1.07
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HAL Tejas : A Brief description and comparison with pakistan JF-17
