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Every major power – and there are just a handful of them – have the capability to aspire to design, develop and manufacture fighter aircraft by themselves. Now, ideally, this would include all critical technologies – aero-engines, aircraft design, metallurgy, radar, sensors and weapons. However, very few countries have mastery and control in all these areas; the early birds or leaders – USA, Russia, UK and France are closely followed by Germany, Japan, Italy and Sweden. Aspirants after the Second World War included Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Iran, South Korea and Taiwan, of which only a few...

BANGALORE: India on Friday conducted the maiden flight of the naval version of its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) over this tech hub under a partially cloudy sky. "With the successful maiden flight of the LCA's naval version, India has joined another elite club of countries capable of design, development, manufacture and testing of fourth generation carrier borne fly-by-wire ski take off but arrested recovery (Stobar) aircraft," defence minister's scientific advisor V.K. Saraswat said here. The test sortie of the LCA naval prototype (NP-1) was conducted for about 20 minutes by Air Commodore T.A. Maolankar with Wing Commander Maltesh Prabhu as...

Navy light combat aircraft refused certification SUMAN SHARMA NEW DELHI | 11th Mar The Naval version of India's first indigenous fighter — the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA-Navy) — has not been able to obtain the certification needed to make its debut flight because of structural issues. The Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) refused the certification saying the structure of the aircraft needed rectifications. The debut flight was initially slated to take place by the end of 2010, but was delayed. The US Navy and the European consortium, EADS, are being consulted to rectify the problems. The two most...

Designers insist Tejas will belie all sceptical questioning Ajai Shukla / Bangalore April 04, 2011, 0:22 IST With the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) entering service with Indian Air Force squadrons, the designers of this indigenous fighter have explained why they believe this will be the world’s premier light fighter. The Tejas Mark-II, to be developed by 2014 and roll off production lines by 2018, will perform 40 per cent better than the current fighter. After which would come the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, the AMCA, which the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) says will be a “fifth-generation plus”...

The first flight of the naval version of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is expected to take place by May this year. The Naval Prototype-1 (NPT1), which was rolled out last year, is undergoing integration tests in Bangalore. Cmde (Retd) CD Balaji, project director LCA Navy, said integration tests are on and the aircraft is currently suspended on bungee cords for undergoing a series of tests. Following this, the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the nodal agency for the design and development of the LCA programme, is expected to start the aircraft engine for testing. A series of ground tests followed...

Turbulence ahead for Indian fighter jet: analysts (AFP) – 7 hours ago NEW DELHI — India's homegrown fighter jet, the Tejas, has finally been cleared for operations but analysts say any celebration of India's entry into an elite club of military hardware producers is premature. Initial operational approval for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) has taken 26 years -- the result of endless developmental delays, technological hiccups and massive cost overruns. First conceived as a direct replacement for the Indian Air Force's (IAF) ageing fleet of Russian-made MiG-21s -- tagged "flying coffins" for their abysmal safety record -- the...

India's own fighter jet Tejas to join air force Monday 2011-01-09 15:00:00 Bangalore, Jan 9 (IANS) India's long-delayed, indigenously-developed, multi-role combat aircraft Tejas will join the Indian Air Force (IAF) Monday for initial operational clearance (IOC) in this aerospace hub. Considered to be the world's smallest military aircraft with a single seat, Tejas will form a 200-strong fleet for the IAF to replace the ageing Russian made MiG-21 fleet, a senior official said here. Defence Minister A.K. Antony will hand over the service certificate of Tejas to Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik to enable IAF fighter...

LCA Tejas Falls Short of Earlier Expectations Nov 24, 2010 By Asia-Pacific Staff New Delhi As India’s homegrown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA Tejas) nears critical initial operational clearance next month, Indian air force officials say the aircraft will fail to meet performance requirements laid down by the service for the limited-profile Mk.1 platform. According to an Indian air force source associated with the long-delayed indigenous fighter program, when the Tejas passes this milestone in December, it still will not be the fighter the air force had agreed to accept for limited squadron service. Performance specifications that the Aeronautical Development Agency...

India is buying 107 American F414 jet engines for its new LCA (Light Combat Aircraft, or "Tejas") jet fighter. These engines will cost about $7.7 million each. Eventually, most of the LCAs built will be powered by the Indian Kaveri engine, which is still in development hell. The F414s will substitute only until the Kaveri is ready. To deal with the Kaveri problem, earlier this year India made a deal with French engine manufacturer Snecma, to provide $200 million worth of technical assistance. Last year, the Indian air force had asserted that help from Snecma would not save the ill-fated...

30 Sep, 2010, 04.03PM IST,PTI US major GE wins engine bid for Indian LCAs NEW DELHI: US aircraft engine manufacturer (GE) Aviation today won the bid for supplying engines for the Indian programme and the deal is estimated to be worth over $600 million. GE pipped its European competitor Eurojet for the deal after DRDO, which is developing the LCA's mark II version, formally announced that the American major's was the lowest bid in the tenders that saw a long-drawn battle for over two years. "GE was declared as the lowest bidder" by the Price Negotiating Committee headed by Chief...

Israel, EU in contention to co-develop radars for Tejas India is close to finalising a developmental partner for a next generation radar that will be the eyes and ears of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) in the future. With other contenders falling off the race due to different reasons, the race now is between European Consortium EADS and Israeli company Elta that are vying for the initial contract to co-develop 10 prototypes of an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar with India. While the initial contract is for 10 prototypes, industry estimates put the requirement of the Indian defence...

India is all set to roll out its indigenous naval Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) facility in Bangalore on Tuesday, which will be witnessed by Defence Minister A K Antony. “The first indigenous naval Light Combat Aircraft – the LCA (Navy) NP1 – is scheduled to roll out from HAL Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) hangar on July 6,” a Defence Minister official said here on Monday. An important milestone for the naval programme of Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the aircraft would be brought out of the hanger where it was assembled part-by-part...

Eurojet offers dual-use engine for LCA K. V. Prasad “The engine will be competitive in many aspects” Eager to join hands with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and its associates in the development of India's Light Combat Aircraft ‘Tejas-Mark II,' the Eurojet consortium is offering its engine that could be tweaked to work on its naval version. “We are offering two variants of the EJ200, bidding for the India's LCA Mark-II which can be altered through a software change to suit the requirements for the naval version of the LCA,” Eurojet Vice-President Sales Paul Hermann told a group...

U.S. Industry Hit By LCA Clearance Problem May 17, 2010 By Staff Correspondent NEW DELHI India is turning to Europe for support of the naval version of its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), after its initial choice of the U.S. was stymied by an inability to gain the requisite approvals from Washington. India selected Lockheed Martin as the winner of a bid for consultancy work on its naval LCA, but failure to secure U.S. State Department licensing approvals — at least in a timely fashion — now has resulted in EADS being in negotiation for the work. This is not the...

Gene therapy for a severe inherited blindness, which produced dramatic improvements last year in 12 children and young adults who received the treatment in a clinical trial, has cleared another hurdle. The same research team that conducted the human trial now reports that a study in animals has shown that a second injection of genes into the opposite, previously untreated eye is safe and effective, with no signs of interference from unwanted immune reactions following the earlier injection. These new findings suggest that patients who benefit from gene therapy in one eye may experience similar benefits from treatment in the...

India's light combat aircraft to phase out Russian jets By Bappa Majumdar NEW DELHI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - India will begin deploying its first locally made supersonic combat aircraft next year and gradually phase out its ageing fleet of Russian fighters, defence officials said on Friday. Five Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) costing about $31 million each have already been manufactured by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and undergoing trials, while eight more will be ready by mid-2010, defence officials said. "We can say 2012 is the key for our air force when we will not only have many LCAs, but...

AERO INDIA: Eurojet offering thrust-vectoring EJ200 for LCA By Andrew Doyle Eurojet is to propose a thrust-vectoring version of the Eurofighter Typhoon's EJ200 powerplant to meet India's requirement for up to 150 engines to equip the first squadrons of its indigenously developed Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA). The Aeronautical Development Agency - which is leading development of the Tejas - is expected to issue a request for proposals in the next few weeks, pitching the EJ200 against General Electric's F414. The Eurojet partner companies have been working on thrust vectoring nozzle technology for several years, lead by Spanish manufacturer ITP,...

Enlarge ImageSeeing the light.Steven Howarth, 18, a patient in a U.K. gene-therapy trial for blindness, says he is now more comfortable walking home at dusk.Credit: BBC In what eye researchers are hailing as a major advance, gene therapy has partially restored the sight of four young adults born with severe blindness. In two small studies, the patients' ability to sense light improved, and two can now read several lines of an eye chart. All are still legally blind, but the same treatment could potentially prevent this type of blindness in babies. The four patients have a disease called Leber...

First squadron of LCA 'Tejas' to be placed down south By ANI Wednesday May 23, 04:41 PM By Sudhakar Jagdish New Delhi, May 23 (ANI): The first squadron of the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) named Tejas will be deployed down south in Tamil Nadu, when the first batch of the 20 fighter aircrafts are expected to be inducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2009-2010. The IAF is zeroing on three places Thanjavur , Sulur and Tiruchirapalli for its possible deployment highlighting the new strategic concerns in Indian establishment 's regarding country's security, particularly with the growing...

F404-GE-IN20 Engines Ordered for India Light Combat Aircraft (Source: GE Aviation; issued Feb. 7, 2007) BANGALORE, India --- Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has ordered an additional 24 F404-GE-IN20 afterburning engines to power the first operational squadron of Tejas fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force. Value of the order is in excess of $100 million and follows an initial 2004 purchase of 17 F404-GE-IN20 engines to power a limited series of operational production aircraft and naval prototypes. Earlier this year, the F404-GE-IN20 was trial-installed in Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) as part of final evaluations toward flight-testing, scheduled for mid-2007. The...