INTRODUCTION

India’s LCA or Light Combat Aircraft program began during the 1980s in order to create a replacement for the Air Force’s ageing MiG-21 aircraft. The resulting LCAs were manufactured by the Indian company HAL and they were officially given the name Tejas, meaning Radiant.

The Indian government first began to focus on the need for a domestically manufactured fighter in 1969, when the Aeronautics Committee recommended that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited should begin to develop an advanced fighter aircraft for India. The initial plans were for an ASR or Tactical Air Support Aircraft that would be similar to the Marut, but the project failed when it proved impossible for HAL to find the proven foreign engine around which it hoped to base the new aircraft. The IAF was, therefore, unable to fulfill its need for an air superiority fighter that could provide secondary air support.

India restarted its quest for a new domestic fighter in 1983 with the launch of the LCA program. This program had two main goals. First, it was designed to produce an aircraft that could replace the IAF’s older MiG-21 aircraft, which were rapidly nearing the end of their service lifetimes. These MiG-21s had formed the backbone of the IAF since the 1970s, so it was essential to find a replacement as they began to leave the service towards the middle of the 1990s. Otherwise, the IAF would have 40 percent fewer aircraft than it needed for its projected requirements by the year 1995. The second objective of the program was to advance the domestic aerospace industry in India, across the board. As well as producing the LCA, the program would also help to build up a local industry to produce state of the art aircraft for the global market.

In order to achieve these objectives, the Aeronautical Development Agency was created in 1984 to take on the responsibility of managing the LCA program. This was a new approach to the management of the aeronautics industry. The ADA is a consortium of more than a hundred industrial organizations, defense laboratories and academic institutions. HAL, the company that is most closely linked with the LCA, is the main contractor for the project.

DEVELOPMENT

The LCA program’s objectives included the development of three of the most sophisticated aircraft systems for domestic production. These were fly by wire controls, an afterburning turbofan engine and multimode pulse doppler radar. These are the only three systems for which the LCA project has had to depend on a significant amount of international cooperation in order to create Indian versions. India’s ambitions to create a domestically manufactured aircraft were very successful. Just three of the 35 components of the avionics system have been obtained from foreign manufacturers. These are the multi function displays, the helmet displays and the laser pod. Even these systems have been produced at the manufacturing stage in India, despite having been based on foreign technologies. India has been able to develop many of the most critical components that it had hoped the LCA program would enable it to produce domestically, including the glass cockpit and the advanced carbon fiber composites. Approximately 70 percent of the LCA components are made in India and this proportion is expected to grow as the Indian aerospace industry continues to develop in the future.

The early stages of the design process began in earnest in 1987 since the IAF’s requirements for the new aircraft were not finalized until the end of 1985. This made the original aim for the first flight to take place in 1990 and for the aircraft to enter service in the IAF in 1995 impossible. The delay did, however give the ADA some more time to perfect and improve its plans and infrastructure for design and manufacture. Project definition was completed by 2008, with the assistance of the French manufacturer Dassault, which consulted on this early development in order to offer its experienced opinions.

The design of the LCA was finalized during 1990. The highly advanced systems that were incorporated into the design led to some doubts in the IAF that such an aircraft could be produced domestically. A government review in 1989 disagreed with the IAF after inspecting the available infrastructure, although it decided that the project should proceed in two stages of engineering.

During phase one, two demonstrator aircraft were to be developed and tested, before the prototypes could be built and the manufacturing facilities developed. Phase one began in 1990, but progress was slowed due to economic problems which made it difficult for sufficient funding to be obtained for testing until 1993. The demonstrator aircraft were produced in 1995 and 1998. Structural issues and difficulties with the development of the flight controls caused these aircraft to be kept on the ground for several years. The first flight by a demonstrator LCA took place in 2001 and the second demonstrator flew in 2005. In the second phase, a number of additional prototypes were to be built, including the naval variant of the aircraft.

PRODUCTION

In 2006, the IAF approved the production of a limited series of 20 LCAs. The first production aircraft took its maiden flight in 2007. The LCA or Tejas was granted Initial Operating Clearance in early 2011. During trials it achieved speeds of more than 1350 kilometers per hour, which makes the LCA the second domestically produced fighter from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to reach supersonic speeds.

The LCA will enter service in the IAF during March 2011. An order for an additional 140 LCAs was placed by the IAF in 2008. These aircraft will be used by seven IAF squadrons. The Indian Air Force is reportedly planning to acquire 200 single seat LCAs as well as 20 two set training aircraft. Meanwhile, 40 LCAs are expected to be acquired by the Indian Navy as replacements for its older Harrier and Sea Harrier aircraft. The naval variant will feature a modified design that will make it more suitable for use on aircraft carriers. The first prototypes of the naval version of the aircraft were produced in 2009.

DESIGN

The LCA or Tejas is the smallest multirole single engine fighter in the world. It is a lightweight single pilot multirole fighter. The original intention for this aircraft was to use it as an air superiority aircraft with a secondary role for ground attack with dumb bombs. However, its flexible design enabled it to be used for a wider range of multimission, multirole purposes, with the integration of various different types of weapons such as anti-shipping and air to surface missiles.

The LCA is a tailless aircraft with a compound shoulder mounted delta wing configuration with no foreplanes or tailplanes, just single vertical tail fin. This configuration helps to keep the aircraft lightweight and compact. It also minimizes the need for control on surfaces, hence the lack of foreplanes and tailfins and it ensures that there is plenty of space underneath the aircraft to carry external stores. The design also offers superior performance particularly for close combat and high speeds.

The LCA has a single flat rated engine and it integrates a range of different technologies including fly by wire controls, relaxed static stability for enhanced maneuverability, multimode radar, an advanced digital cockpit and integrated digital avionics.

The aircraft is manufactured from advanced composites and lightweight materials, including lithium, titanium and aluminum alloys and carbon composites. Carbon fiber composites make up about 45 percent of the airframe. The wings are composed of composite ribs and spares, covered by a plastic skin reinforced with carbon fibers. The aircraft fuselage and the fin and rudder are manufactured by the National Aerospace Laboratory in Bangalore. The tailfin is constructed from a single honeycomb piece of carbon fiber, which reduces the cost and weight. The use of carbon fiber has reduced the number of parts required to construct the aircraft by 40 percent and it has significantly reduced the number of joins and fasteners that are required, which makes the structure more robust and quicker, cheaper and easier to put together.

NAVAL VARIANT

The naval variant of the LCA has a slightly different airframe which featured a nose droop that improves the pilot’s view as they approach for landing. The naval LCAs also feature leading edge vortex controllers on the wings, which help to increase lift during the approach. These LEVCONs will help increase control at high angle of attack and to improve handling at low speeds. The naval versions of the LCA will also have stronger, longer undercarriages and powered nose wheels for better maneuverability on deck.

EQUIPMENT

The LCA pilots are seated in zero zero Martin Baker ejection seats in a glass cockpit that contains two multifunction liquid crystal color displays as well as a head up display and a return-to-home liquid crystal panel which can guide the pilot in the event of an emergency and a keyboard. The pilot also has a helmet display. A health monitoring system is integrated into the avionics system and there is also a specially developed environmental control system. The glass cockpit is compatible with night vision.

The pilot uses a hand on stick and throttle control. Quadruplex digital FBW controls are used to fly the LCA aircraft. The Sagem SIGMA 95N navigations system has an integrated GPS. The communications system offers VHF to UHF communication protected by inbuilt countermeasures. It also includes data links for communication with both the air and the ground.

WEAPONS

The LCA has eight external weapons hardpoints, including three under each of the wings and one each under the port side air intake and on the center fuselage. There is a twin barreled 23 millimeter GSh-23 gun mounted under the starboard air intake. It is capable of firing at a rate of 50 rounds per second.

The weapons hardpoints can be used to carry pods for reconnaissance, surveillance, electronic warfare or targeting. The LCA can carry drop tanks and it can be armed with bombs, rockers, precision guided munitions and various types of missiles. This includes the R-73 air to air missile, which is a short range missile that can be used to intercept targets traveling at up to 2500 kilometers per hour.

An additional hardpoint under the intake trunk on the port side of the aircraft can be used to carry various types of pods, including IRST, FLIR, reconnaissance and laser rangefinder pods. The wing stations and the centerline under-fuselage can also be used to carry pods.

An electronic countermeasures system is built into the LCA. It includes flare and chaff dispensers as well as warning systems capable of detecting radar, approaching missiles and lasers. The LCA’s small size helps to make it harder to detect visually, while the high proportion of composites in its construction and the engine shielding provided by the Y duct inlets helps to provide some degree of protection against detection by radar.

RADAR

The multimode radar is capable of tracking ten targets simultaneously. It offers ground mapping and track-while-scan modes. The LCA also has a pulse Doppler radar. An AESA radar is expected to be developed for the LCA.

ENGINE

The single turbofan engine is a General Electric model, the 85kN F404-GE-IN20. It provides full digital control. Trials of this engine began in 2008. The LCA was the first aircraft to use them. The GE engine was a replacement for the GTX-35VS Kaveri, which was intended for use on the LCA, but was not available because of delays. The Kaveri engine, when it has been completed, will provide 52KN of dry power or 80.5kN when used with afterburn. The engine will have Y-duct air intakes and multi-axis thrust vectoring nozzles. Later versions of the LCA will use GE F414 engines since the Kaveri engines will not be ready in time for the LCA.

The maximum speed of the LCA is 2205 kilometers per hour and it can reach altitudes of up to 15200 meters. The LCA has a maximum range of 3000 kilometers, without refueling.

Fuel tanks are located in the wings and the fuselage. In-flight refueling is made possible by a refueling probe places on the starboard side at the front of the aircraft. It is also possible for the LCA to carry drop tanks with up to a 4000 liter capacity.