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Tejas project
The proposal for Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for ramping up of production of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), indigenously designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by HAL, from the present installed capacity of eight to sixteen aircraft per annum by HAL is being processed, says Minister of State for Defence Shri Rao Inderjit Singh.
The proposal for Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for ramping up of production of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), indigenously designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by HAL, from the present installed capacity of eight to sixteen aircraft per annum by HAL is being processed, says Minister of State for Defence Shri Rao Inderjit Singh.
'Tejas' is the smallest, light weight, single engine, single seat, supersonic, multirole, combat aircraft, best in its class in the world. This fourth generation combat aircraft has Carbon Composites, light weight/high strength material for primary structures, quadruplex Digital Flight Control System, glass Cockpit and digital Avionics to give multirole capabilities with carefree maneuvering.
In 1990, the design was finalised as a small tailless delta winged machine with relaxed static stability (RSS) and control-configuration for enhanced manoeuvrability. In 1992, the LCA National Control Law (CLAW) team was set up to develop India's own state of the art fly-by-wire FCS for the Tejas. Phase 2 commenced in November 2001, and consisted of the manufacturing of more prototype vehicles, leading to the development of the final variant.
The total cost for development of Tejas (including PDP, Phase 1 and Phase 2) was Rs 7,965.56 crore as of August 2013. The first prototype of the LCA Tejas Naval Version - LCA NP-1 completed its maiden flight as part of the carrier compatibility tests at the shore-based test facility in Goa in December 2014. The LCA Tejas Series Production-1 (SP1) was handed over by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to Indian Air Force Chief Air Marshal Arup Raha in January next year.
In September, 2015, Indian Air Force indicated the requirement of 100 Tejas LCA AF MK 1-A aircraft, for which a formal order is yet to be placed. The plan of manufacturing and completion is from 2018 to 2022-23. The project for design and development of LCA, Tejas Mk-II, was sanctioned in November 2009 at a cost of Rs 2,431.55 crore with Probable Date of Completion (PDC) of December 2018.
However, because of delay in finalisation of Engine Contract, the project could start only in December 2013. As a result, maiden flight of first Prototype and Operational Clearance are likely to be completed by December 2019 and December 2022, respectively.
