Tejas, the homegrown aircraft that was aimed to fulfil the acute dearth of squadrons and replacement of aging Russian aircrafts in the Indian air force, has been in the news for a long time. Earlier, the delays in the project took it into the limelight. The ambitious project of Tejas, which is also known as LCA i.e. Light Combat Aircraft, had several turns in its journey till now. It once again came into the news for its engine issues.
Recently, French company, Snecma came ahead to revive Kaveri engine of Tejas and will make it capable of flight in Tejas. As per the plan, the Kaveri engine will be installed in Tejas prototype in 2018 and its flight testing will be scheduled in 2020. As per the sources, Kaveri engine will power Tejas MK-1, which has been ordered in bulk by the IAF. Some allegation of installation of this engine in Ghatak UCAV are being surfaced. The efficiency of Kaveri will be improved by Snecma and this will in turn give a positive signal to the international buyers of aircrafts as the engine has kept its performance better with an affordable pricing. At present, the engines used in Tejas aircrafts is F-404 of GE, which is imported from the U.S. The enhancement of Kaveri will further open the ways for Indian manufacturers to come up with a suitable engine for AMCA aircraft. The test of Kaveri installed Tejas were held by 18 months as reported by the DRDO sources. The project to manufacture the engine was initiated in 1986, which later on got delayed several times. The cost of manufacturing the engine has also increased.
Some basic specifications of Tejas are
- Speed – 1.6-1.8 Mach
- Range – 3000 kms
- Ceiling – 16 kms
- Pilot crew – 1
- Single Engine Aircraft
As per the project details, the aircraft will have some variants like Trainer, Naval variant and Mark 2. The current Tejas is the MK-1 version, which is being used and is under improved. The aircraft will be made efficient to carry almost all kinds of missiles like Astra, Paython, anti-radiation missile etc. that will make it the best in all kinds of operations. The next version of it i.e. Mark 2 will be the improved version of Mark 1.
Conclusion – Indian defence companies are working hard to bring out best accessories and equipment in Tejas in order to make it a world class aircraft to remove the shortage of Aircrafts in IAF. The aircraft will be further integrated with more enhanced and latest technologies to make it the best substitute to replace the aging Russian aircrafts in Indian Ari force and deter the enemies. This aircraft is also a good option for other developing nation as the Indian government is considering its plan to export it to some nations.
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