The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)
of India severely criticized the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project,
through its report, on 8 May, pointing out that its Mark-I version had 53
“significant shortfalls” in meeting ASR (Air Staff Requirements), which have
reduced its operational capabilities as well as survivability. The report
titled “Design, development, manufacture and induction of LCA” was submitted to
both houses of Parliament on 9 May.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) would be
“constrained” to induct the fighter LCA without availability of a trainer
model, thereby “adversely impacting pilot training”, the audit body said. The
CAG noted that it was due to the delay in the manufacture and supply of LCA
that IAF had to go for alternative temporary measures such as upgrading its
MiG-21 BIS, MiG-29, Jaguar and Mirage aircraft at a cost of Rs 20,037 crore and
revise the phasing out of MiG-21s. LCA Mark-I achieved Initial Operational
Clearance (IOC) in December, 2013.
Shortcomings Listed
Listing the shortcomings, the CAG said that
the LCA Mark-I failed to meet the electronic warfare capabilities sought by IAF
as the Self-Protection Jammer could not be fitted on the aircraft due to space
constraints.Also, it said that the Radar Warning
Receiver/Counter Measure Dispensing System fitted on the aircraft had raised
performance concerns, which were yet to be overcome till January 2015.
It added that the shortcomings in the
Mark-I (increased weight, reduced internal fuel capacity, non-compliance of
fuel system protection, pilot protection from front, reduced speed) were
expected to be overcome in the Mark-II model.
“LCA Mark-I does not meet the ASR (Air
Staff Requirement). The deficiencies are now expected to be met in LCA Mark-II
by December 2018,” the CAG said.
While DRDO has always showcased LCA,
christened Tejas, as an indigenously-developed aircraft and the indigenous
content of the LCA was estimated by ADA to be 70 per cent, the CAG said it
“actually worked out to about 35 per cent” as of January 2015.
Systems such as Kaveri engine, Multi-Mode
Radar, Radome, Multi-Functional Display System and Flight Control System
Actuators taken up for indigenous development could not be developed
successfully, resulting in LCA’s continued dependence on the import of these
systems, CAG said.
Listing out the concessions, the report
says waivers were given for increased weight, reduced internal fuel capacity,
non-compliance of all-weather operations, non-achievement of single point
defueling, fuel system protection and pilot protection.
The CAG said that ADA’s decision to advance
the building of two prototypes from Full-Scale Engineering Development (FSED)
Phase-II to FSED Phase-I so as to utilise its savings on the grounds of
accelerating the development process of LCA had failed to yield the desired
results. This, the report said, was because preponed prototypes were deficient
in terms of critical onboard systems (Multi-Mode Radar, Self-Protection Jammer,
Radar Warning Receiver) and led to ADA using the Limited Series Production
(LSP) aircraft (meant for IAF use) towards flight testing/evaluation of these
critical on board systems.
“This was in contravention of the Cabinet
approval (November, 2001) for phased development of the prototypes in FSED
Phase-II after Technical Demonstrators had been built and flight tested for 210
hours,” CAG said.
It said that the long gestation period led
to a change of weapon systems on LCA, necessitating the acquisition of new
ones.
LCA Mk-2 Will Fulfill ASR
The audit body also had a word of
appreciation for the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), saying its work
centres on the indigenous development of the LCA, “which is comparable to many
contemporary aircraft in the world”.
The report went on to add that the delays
in identification, replacement and addition of weapons by IAF and their
integration as per IAF requirement, to make the aircraft contemporary, also
added to the worries.
"In addition, there have been delays
in completion of work packages by various work centres, which indicated
ineffective monitoring of the project by the Ministry of Defence," says the report.
HAL Delayed Augmenting Production Capacity
Criticising the slow pace of the LCA's
entry into service, the report notes that Hindustan Aeronautics' manufacturing
facilities can build just four fighters annually against an envisaged
requirement of eight per year. CAG overlooks the fact that IAF has ordered only
20 LCAs with another 20 have been promised after the fighter obtains final
operational clearance. Even so, HAL is enhancing its production to 16 LCAs per
year, a decision that a future CAG report might comment on unfavourably if more
IAF orders are not forthcoming.
Development Journey
IAF had proposed in the early 1980s that a
new aircraft be developed to replace the MiG-21 fleet, manufactured during 1966
and 1987, after its phasing out in the 1990s.
The project for indigenous design and
development of LCA was sanctioned in 1983 at a cost of Rs 560 crore, which was
enhanced from time to time up to Rs 10,397.11 crore. Today’s figure of Rs
14,047crore includes the cost of developing both the IAF and naval LCA,
covering both the Mark I version as well as Mark II. The air force Tejas
Mark I has so far cost Rs 7,490 crore, and is within its budget of Rs
7,965 crore. The government, in June, 1984, constituted
an ADA as a dedicated institution for the management of the LCA project.
IAF had issued Air Staff Requirement (ASR)
in October 1985, envisaging a light-weight multi-mission fighter with
contemporary air combat and offensive air support capabilities and excellent
manoeuvrability for close air combat at low and medium altitudes.
The projected requirement was for 220 Light
Combat Aircraft (200 fighters, 20 trainers) to be inducted by 1994.
However, LCA could only achieve IOC in
December 2013, as against the earlier scheduled date of December 2005.The Full Operational Clearance (FOC), which
was scheduled to be completed by December, 2008, is now slated to be achieved
by December 2015, although experts say even that could be delayed.
The LCA Design
From the outset, the LCA was based on
fourth-generation (Gen-4) technologies. The first of these is its
"unstable design", which makes it more agile and manoeuvrable than
"stable" aircraft that are designed to hold the path they are flying
on.
Design.
The lack of a horizontal tail is a
unique feature of the Tejas, making it similar to the Dassault Mirage series of
fighters. The plane also has a delta-wing configuration, which is the reverse
of normal delta-wing fighters in that the angle of the sweep of the outer wing
section is larger than the angle of the sweep of the inner wing section. The
reverse configuration is normally used to balance supersonic and subsonic or
transonic capabilities. The Tejas has an angle of incidence from the main axis
of the wing, which gives the whole plane a larger dihedral force, improving its
supersonic capabilities.
The Tejas uses the V-shaped air inlets
typical of light fighters, the air inlets gather together towards the rear,
sheltering the blades of the engine's axial compressor, preventing the
scattering of radar, and adding to the craft's stealth capabilities. The oval
air intakes are similar to the F/A-18C/D Hornet, with a diverter structure
around them. All in all the design is in line with convention and has not shown
much innovation.
Composite Materials. The Tejas has put an
emphasis on reducing weight, and so it has used a lot of composite material.
Forty-five percent of the plane's total weight is comprised of composite
materials, including the fuselage, its vertical tailfin, the skin, the spars
and the ribs of the wings, the elevons, the rudder, the air brakes and the
landing gear doors. This cuts the plane's empty weight by 5.5 tons. The result
is a lighter fighter that can carry more fuel and weapons.
Power Plant.
The original plan for the LCA
Tejas was that it would be fitted with the GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri turbofan
engine, but the development of the engine ran into a hitch, so they had to
adopt the F414 instead. The engine was developed on the basis of the General
Electric F404 and has an axial compressor with three fan and seven compressor
stages and a turbine with one low-pressure and one high-pressure stage.
Compared with the F404, the F414 has augmented thrust by 35%, pushing it to 60
kN military thrust and 98 kN with afterburner. Its thrust-weight ratio has been
pushed to 9:1. India purchased the custom-made F414-GE-INS5 model, which has
similar capabilities to the F414-GE-400, with a fully digital control system,
making it quicker to react and more accurate.
Avionics. The LCA Tejas' avionics system
has a top-down design and has made use of line-replaceable unit technology,
ensuring smooth coordination and the minimum degree of interdependence. The
Tejas' avionics system was designed by France, with three 1553B serial buses
and two centralized 32-bit, high-throughput mission computers, including a
communications subsystem, a mission subsystem, a self-defence system and a
guidance and flight system. It uses ELTA's EL/M2032 radar system, which works
in the X-band range, designed for both air-to-air and ground strike missions.
It is effective within a range of 37-75 km. The LCA has
"microprocessor-based utilities", which means that computers control
all its on-board systems like fuel, weapons and environment control.
Glass Cockpit.
The LCA has an all-glass
cockpit, in which conventional dials are replaced by intelligent multi-function
displays, and the pilot can fly, aim and operate weapons through a
helmet-mounted display.
Flight Control System.
The flight system of
the Tejas has a complicated origin. Originally the aircraft was set to be
equipped with a FADEC system developed jointly by Lockheed Martin and India,
however, an Indian nuclear test led to sanctions being imposed against the
country, ending the US-Indian cooperative endeavour. India then looked to
Russian aircraft manufacturer Mikoyan and Moscow Air Production Organization
for help, until the sanctions were revoked in 2001. India then ordered
actuators from London-based BAE Systems, which were handed over in 2003. Then
Lockheed Martin joined the development project once again. This lengthy process
slowed down the entire development of the aircraft. It is believed that the
flight control system is a match for the F-16C/D Fighting Falcon's relaxed
static stability/fly-by-wire flight control system.
Combat Abilities.
The LCA Tejas has just
entered service and not developed its combat abilities as yet, so the only way
to compare the two is to look at the weapons they will likely use and their
weapon pylons. The LCA Tejas will likely be equipped with the Israeli Python-4
air-to-air missile and the Derby medium-range active radar homing missile. The
CAG report points out that in December 2009, IAF asked for the R-73E air-to-air
missile to be integrated with the LCA's radar and the pilots' helmet mounted
displays. CAG also blames IAF for taking too long to identify a
"beyond-visual-range missile" for the LCA.
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