By Colonel Awadhesh Kumar, Special Forces
The effort of Aeronautical Development Agency, a Defence organisation of India has been highly successful with the interim Final Operational Clearance acquired by Tejas, the light fighter aircraft of 4+++ generation. As per the experts all over the world, Tejas whose 70% airframe is built with Composite materials is far far superior to Pakistan’s JF-17 “Thunder” fighter in all respects. In fact it rivals the American F16 and in addition has a huge cost advantage. The Tejas features an unstable design, with composite materials giving it a weight advantage, a highly sophisticated digital flight control system and has a glass flight panel. Most importantly, it still has a huge developmental potential. The only disadvantage is that, it is powered by a General Electric GE F-404IN engine, which though very reliable is not indigenous but imported from USA.
During the pan India GAGAN SHAKTI exercise conducted by the Indian AirForce last year to test the capability of fighting a two front War, the 10 Tejas aircraft which too participated proved their worth thoroughly. Now Ministry if Defence, Indian Air Force, Hindustan Aeronautics and DRDO all are striving to remove the numerous teething problems associated with mass production of this versatile cost effective fighter jet. India is also working overtime to get its own Kaveri Engine fully up to the mark to power not only the Tejas Mk2 but also the futuristic Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft.
The Kaveri is very similar to other contemporary combat engines, such as the Eurojet EJ200, General Electric F414, and Snecma M88. The Kaveri engine has been specifically designed for the demanding Indian operating environment, which ranges from hot desert to the highest mountain range in the world. Its design is a variable-cycle, flat-rated engine and has 13 percent higher thrust than the General Electric F404-GE-F2J3 engines equipping India’s Tejas Mk1. The GTRE’s design envisions achieving a fan pressure ratio of 4:1 and an overall pressure ratio of 27:1, which it believes will permit the Tejas to “super cruise” (cruise supersonically without the use of the afterburner. Presently the engine has been able to achieve thrust of 82kN but the IAF waiting for it to reach 95 kN.
So no wonder that it has been reported lately that the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) is interested in acquiring up to thirty+ Tejas fighter aircraft from India. Interest has been envisaged by Indonesia and Phillipines too. In fact Vietnam may be waiting for MK1A before placing off the shelf orders and going in for the licensed production of Mk2 version. Many Arab and African countries too may be waiting for the above opportunity. it would boost New Delhi’s efforts to become a net exporter of military systems, rather than one of the world’s largest importer of weapons by cost.
HAL is fully gearing up to present the Tejas at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace 2019 (LIMA 19) exhibition in March this year, due mainly to Malaysia’s interest in the fighter. Kuala Lumpur, had earlier evinced interest in the Chinese designed JF-17, just as it did with many other Chinese projects when Najib Razak was the PM. Now it has, turned its attention towards the Tejas when Dr Mahathir Mohammed returned to power last year. Though the actual reason is the super superiority of Tejas over the JF17. Also the JF-17’s Russian-designed and Chinese-built Klimov RD-93 engine is much less reliable than the American engine in Tejas.The only draw back is that American approval will be required for any export. However GE must be happy in selling three engines for each exported fighter. In case they act pricey, the Kaveri engine will be powering the Tejas Mk2 sooner than later. It may even be able to power the Tejas Mk1A.
The only draw back seen is that Indian Air Force (IAF) itself requires the 83 Tejas Mk1 A as of yesterday apart from the 40 Mk1 already in the pipe line. Another order for nearly 240 Mk2 is likely to be placed as soon the first PV takes to the sky. HAL is now gearing itself for mass production and the MoD needs to rope in the Private Sector in a big way.Otherwise India will be hard-pressed to fulfil not only the IAF orders but also the export orders when they are received due to production capacity issues.
In fact even a country like Australia is advised to give a look at the Tejas otherwise they will be forced to use their obsolete F18s or the super costly incoming F35 s for all the routine tasks. One day their F35 while flying over Timor Sea may be surprised to find Indonesian Tejas flying along side.
