India HAL Tejas Program

Zapper said:

Will Uttam AESA be integrated from the 40th jet onwards?

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The current order of 83 jets with this will put the total number of LCA Tejas Mk-1A at 180 along with 40 Mk-1

Zapper said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1778674711032971485

The current order of 83 jets with this will put the total number of LCA Tejas Mk-1A at 180 along with 40 Mk-1

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Also, as per this report the number of Mk-2 models has been increased from 106 to ~200!

Just as well....we're gonna be needing a whole lot of 4.5 gen single-engine planes if we want to approach any conflict with a high sortie rate throughout. All those flashy Rafales, MKI-Upgrades & AMCAs are well & good, but without the backbone of single-engine jets which put up the bulk of sorties flying CAP & CAS, defending the airspace & preparing the conditions for Air Superiority & Strike platforms to come and exploit, that would truly make the difference in determining if we can maintain the Air war long enough to turn the tide.

I'm glad we never swayed from a Western engine (F404/414) on the Tejas platforms...we'd never be able to put up the required sortie rate & flight hours per year with a Russian powerplant.

Spitfire9 said:

HAL upped FAL capacity to 8 frames a year around 2016 IIRC. A second line was commissioned 2021, giving FAL capacity of 16 frames a year. Currently 2 frames are scheduled for delivery by end March this year. 8 deliveries are scheduled in 2024/2025 financial year, 16 in 2025/2026 financial year and later years. If Nashik FAL is commissioned in 2025, I think that the production rate could reach 24 per year 2027 onwards.

A 4th assembly line for exports some time later? On that basis I suspect that Argentina will go for F-16 and Philippines will select F-16 or Gripen E.

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Replying to myself, Janes reported 2 days before the first Mk1A was due for delivery that HAL announced the delivery schedule would not be met. Q2 2024 now? Q3 for first delivery to IAF? It will be interesting to see if HAL can catch up on the delivery schedule by the end of the 2024/2025 financial year.

I hear that Nashik is going to be used to assemble more Su-30's. If so, I think that Mk1A production capacity falls to 16 per annum for the foreseeable future.

Spitfire9 said:

Replying to myself, Janes reported 2 days before the first Mk1A was due for delivery that HAL announced the delivery schedule would not be met. Q2 2024 now? Q3 for first delivery to IAF? It will be interesting to see if HAL can catch up on the delivery schedule by the end of the 2024/2025 financial year.

I hear that Nashik is going to be used to assemble more Su-30's. If so, I think that Mk1A production capacity falls to 16 per annum for the foreseeable future.

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Only 12 more Su max. Super Sukhoi upgrade hasn’t been started However HAL Nashik has advertised they will be delivering 2 mk1A by March next year.
Means work has already started there.

Engine delivery is another issue. GE hasn’t delivered engines as per contract . They have supply chain issues

Rajendra Chola said:

Only 12 more Su max. Super Sukhoi upgrade hasn’t been started However HAL Nashik has advertised they will be delivering 2 mk1A by March next year.
Means work has already started there.

Engine delivery is another issue. GE hasn’t delivered engines as per contract . They have supply chain issues

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I wonder how long it will take to switch from Mk1A assembly to Su assembly at Nashik, build 12 x Su then switch back to Mk1A assembly. I also wonder how many unused GE 404 there are in India and the current delivery rate from GE. I know that GE is raising the delivery rate to 20 per year but have no idea when they will get to that level.

Spitfire9 said:

I wonder how long it will take to switch from Mk1A assembly to Su assembly at Nashik, build 12 x Su then switch back to Mk1A assembly. I also wonder how many unused GE 404 there are in India and the current delivery rate from GE. I know that GE is raising the delivery rate to 20 per year but have no idea when they will get to that level.

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Either they have increased the assembly area or decreased the number of Su jigs there. They can’t do both without expansion. Particularly after Super Su project kicks in.
Older GE F404 engines can’t be used as HAL uses the IN 6 version. The earliest prototypes used a different version of F404. I think it’s only after 2012, we zeroed in for this particular variant of F404. Not sure who easy it’s to convert older model to IN6 version.

GE needs to increase delivery to 24 per year. Supply chain issues are there. I don’t think they can supply 20 before 2026. Remember KA 50, Boeing T7A are also vying for the same engine. Hurjet is the latest entrant to the engine user. Plus they have to supply new engines to Saab Gripen, F18 a/b/c/d MLU to various air forces. Some modules and suppliers are the same for 404&414.

This problem with continue with F414, but we have local assembly planned. How much will still be imported for F414, no one knows.

Rajendra Chola said:

Either they have increased the assembly area or decreased the number of Su jigs there. They can’t do both without expansion. Particularly after Super Su project kicks in.
Older GE F404 engines can’t be used as HAL uses the IN 6 version. The earliest prototypes used a different version of F404. I think it’s only after 2012, we zeroed in for this particular variant of F404. Not sure who easy it’s to convert older model to IN6 version.

GE needs to increase delivery to 24 per year. Supply chain issues are there. I don’t think they can supply 20 before 2026. Remember KA 50, Boeing T7A are also vying for the same engine. Hurjet is the latest entrant to the engine user. Plus they have to supply new engines to Saab Gripen, F18 a/b/c/d MLU to various air forces. Some modules and suppliers are the same for 404&414.

This problem with continue with F414, but we have local assembly planned. How much will still be imported for F414, no one knows.

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Hold up with T-7 could help F404 supply to other customers in the next year or two.