HAL Tejas India's Home Grown Fighter

The Tejas is a single-engine multirole fighter which features a tailless, compound delta wing design that omits horizontal stabilizers in the tail.  This allows for better close-combat, high-speed, and high-alpha performance characteristics than comparable traditional wing designs.  Extensive wind tunnel testing on scale models and complex computational fluid dynamics analysis have optimized the aerodynamic configuration for minimum supersonic drag, a low wing-loading, and high rates of roll and pitch. Tejas is designed with "relaxed static stability" for enhanced maneuverability and agility. Originally intended to serve as an air superiority aircraft with a secondary ground-attack role, its flexibility permits a variety of guided air-to-surface and anti-shipping weapons to be integrated for multirole and multi-mission capabilities.


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Credits/Attributions
Cover art photo of the IAF HAL Tejas:

Venkat Mangudi, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

#Tejas #IAF #India #Fighter

Transcript

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Let's take a look at India's homegrown fighter. The how <inaudible> <inaudible> is an Indian single engine multi-role light fighter aircraft designed by the aeronautical development agency

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Or ADA in collaboration with the aircraft research and design center, or AR DC of Hindustan aeronautics limited, also known as how designed to be a true multi-role and multi-service fighter. The Taiji has,

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Is intended for use by both the Indian air force and Indian Navy, a product of the light combat aircraft or LCA program, which began in the 1980s to replace India's aging MIG 21 fighters. The LCA was officially named stages in 2003

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Overview. The T jazz is

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A single engine multi-role fighter, which features a tailless compound Delta wing design that omits horizontal stabilizers on the tail. This allows for better close combat high-speed and high alpha performance characteristics than comparable traditional wing designs, extensive wind tunnel tests and scale models and complex computational fluid dynamics analysis have optimized the aerodynamic configuration for a minimum supersonic drag, a low wing loading and high rates of roll in pitch. TJs is designed for relaxed stability for enhancement of durability and agility originally intended to serve as an air superiority aircraft with a secondary ground attack role its flexibility permits a variety of guided air to surface and anti shipping weapons to be integrated for multi-role

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And multi-mission capabilities. Additionally, the

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Taylor's compound Delta plan form is designed to be small and lightweight weapons are carried on seven hard points, three stations under each wing, and one center line hard point under the fuselage. Additionally, an eighth offset station beneath the port site in taking care of your variety of pods like FLIR or I R S T to extend range. Auxiliary fuel tanks can be carried on three wet, hard points, one center line and two wing stations. Along with this scenario, refueling probe is located on the starboard side of the fuselage. The <inaudible> forget missile serves as the Tasias initial beyond visual range air to air missile. While efforts are currently underway to integrate the Astro beyond visual range air to air missile on the tasers as well.

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Additionally, the BrahMos N G supersonic cruise missile is being developed for use on the Tasias in order to reduce the frontal radar cross section of the Tasias a wide duct inlet shields, the engine compressor blades from probing radar ways. Furthermore, the airframes high usage of composites and the application of radar absorbent materials or Ram coatings are intended to minimize its susceptibility to detection and tracking

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Pair frame. The Taiji has, is built using aluminum, lithium alloys, carbon fiber components, and titanium alloys composite

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Materials make up 45% of the air frame by weight and 90% by surface area, upper and lower wing skins are manufactured from a single piece of carbon fiber reinforced polymer wing, spars and ribs are also made out of carbon

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Composites. The constructions

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Of Ella Vons, tailfin rudder air brakes and landing gear doors use co-curator and co bonded manufacturing techniques.

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The radium is made of Kevlar while the fin

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Tip is made out of glass fiber reinforced plastic, the LCA is percentage employment of carbon fiber composites is one of the highest among contemporary aircraft

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Of its class. Along with making

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The plane much lighter. There are also fewer joints or rivets, which increases the aircraft's reliability and lowers its susceptibility to structural fatigue cracks. The wings are made with carbon fiber reinforced polymer enter designed to provide a minimum weight along with serving as integral fuel

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Tanks. Interestingly, the Tasias

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Tailfin is composed of a monolithic honeycomb structure piece. Reducing the manufacturing costs by 80% as compared to the traditional subtractive or deductive methods. The Tasias tailfin construction involves a carving out of a block of titanium alloy by a computerized numerically controlled machine. No other manufacturer is known to have made fins out of a single piece

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And this way for the Naval variants, the Tasias incorporates a nose droop to provide, improve

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You for carrier landings and a wing leading edge vortex controllers or Levcon, which can be deflected 25 degrees downward and up to 30 degrees upwards, which both increased lift and reduce airspeed during approach as an added benefit love cons can also increase controllability at high angles, TAC,

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Or alpha other modifications to the Naval. Tasias include a strengthened

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Spine, a longer and stronger under carriage

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And a wrestler hook system and powered nose wheel steering for deck maneuverability sensors. The taser is incorporates

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A night vision Goggle compatible glass cockpit equipped with a domestically develop head-up display and features three full color five by five inch multi-function displays and two smart standby display units. These displays provide information on key flight systems and controls along with basic flight and tactical data. The pilot interacts with the onboard systems through a multifunction

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Keyboard and several selection panel. Interestingly, the Tasias has they get you home panel with a failure, operational fail, safe air data computer, which uses a computational intelligence base auto land system to provide the pilot

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With essential flight information in case

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Of an emergency the dash four helmet mounted display and site HMDs in hands on throttle and stick or hoedads controls, reduce pilot workload and increase situational awareness by allowing access

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To navigation and weapon cuing information, reducing heads down time. I'm in

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The cockpit when it comes to radar, the first 40 production stages, mark ones have been equipped hybrid

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Version of the E L M 2 0 3 2 radar.

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Meanwhile, the first batch of 20 Tasias mark one A's will be equipped with

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An improved E L M 2 0 5 2 AESA radar developed jointly by Elta systems and how the remaining 63 aircraft will be equipped with a domestically developed L R D E UdeM a S CA radar, which is currently undergoing trials when it comes to electronic

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Warfare or EDW, the stages

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Mark one has an indigenous EDW suite developed by the defense avionics research established

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Or dare to enhance the combat survivability of the aircraft. This UWC suite known as my VI includes a radar warning receiver or RWR integrated

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Self protection jammer, chaff and

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Flares dispensers, and advanced EWS system developed by Derr known as universal

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Electronic warfare suite or U E w S is included in the tagine mark.

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One, a the U EWS

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Suite has electronic countermeasures and electronic counter countermeasures capabilities, emitter detection, and geolocation functionality, digital frequency. Memory-based jamming along with a wide band RWR with 360 degree angle threat detection capabilities. In addition to the integrated you EWS suite, the Tasias mark went a will come equipped with an Ulta E L slash L 8 2 2 2 WB wide band advanced SPJ pod, which is already in use by India's S U 30 mark one in the near term that Tasias mark Rene will have indigenous software defined radio based tactical data link for secure communication and network centric warfare capabilities supported by the Indian air forces, AFN net digital information

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Grid to further augment the stages sensors, external

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Potted sensors, such as electro optical, infrared, or EOIR sensor pods, forward-looking infrared or FLIR, laser designated pods and ECM pods can be equipped. The Diardio has developed an advanced airborne infrared targeting and navigation pod known as the laser designator pod or LDP

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Tasias. Additionally, the Tayjah is makes

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You use of an integrated aircraft health monitoring system for status monitoring, fault detection and analysis

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Diagnostics, and prognostics to reduce maintenance time and cost while improving safety for navigation. The Taiji has uses

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Various forms of onboard instrumentation, such as tactical air navigation or tack in terrain reference navigation system or turboprop VHF, omnidirectional instrument, and landing, or VLR ILS and a dare developed enhanced ground proximity warning system and ring laser gyroscope base internal navigation systems integrated with satellite guidance from the research center

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<inaudible> or RCI flight control system. In order to

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Manage it's relaxed ability design a full authority quadruplex fly by wire digital automatic flight control system with fail operational or fail safe safety features

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Is used. This is implemented

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For automatic maneuver limiting and to ease pilot handling the Tasias flight control system is implemented using a dual redundant modular military standard 1 5 5, 3 B

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Standard databus and open architecture

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Digital flight control computer system developed by dare the wings, outer leading edge incorporates three section slots, which allowed to operate at a higher angle of attack while the inboard sections have additional slats to generate vortex lift over the inner wing and high energy, along with the tailfin to enhance high alpha stability and prevent departure controlled

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Flight engines develop indigenous

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Jet engine for Tayjah is, was one of the five self-reliance goals identified at the beginning of the LCA

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Program. A project led by the

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Gas turbine research establishment or GTR EA to design and develop an indigenous power plant co-vary was launched in 1989, however, or it was evident that developing a jet engine in time to equip a prototype stages was impractical. So, and off to sheet general electric at 4 0 4 after burning turbofan engine was considered as an interim option by 2004 general electric was awarded $105 million contract for 17 updated <inaudible> G E I N 20 engines to power the eight air force and two Naval prototypes with deliveries beginning in 2006,

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By 2008, how had placed an order

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For an additional 24 F 404 GEI in

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20 engines to power production. Tasias mark one fighters during this time

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Development of the indigenous co-vary engine continued with current results producing a thrust output of about 81 kilonewtons. The goal of the co-vary program is to eventually produce an engine that can supply 90 to 95 kilonewtons of thrust. Currently the Tejas mark one is powered by the GEF 4 0 4 in 20 engine. Well, plans are to power the Tasias mark two with a G F 404 ins six engine in August, 2021. How in order for 99 F 4 0 4, a G I in one 20 engines valued at 750 million. The GE F 4 0 4 engine is similar to the ones used in the legacy

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Hornet operational history. The formation

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Of it first Tasia is equipped squadron started in July of 2011, the Tasias mark one entered service with number 45 squadron, the IAF

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Known as the flying daggers. They set

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The air craft and systems testing establishment at how in Bangladesh, before being moved to Solor air force station in coin Bator, this squadron initially had four aircraft. The IAS aircraft and systems testing establishment was to receive four aircraft already built, including two development aircraft. The Taiji does mark. One made its international debut on 21, January, 2016 at the Bahrain international

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Area in June of 2017. How stated

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That it expects to have delivered 123 Tasias aircraft to the Indian air force by 2024 to 2025, how outlined a three-pronged approach to accelerate aircraft

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Production? It would build an additional assembly. We used the hoc assembly line and outsource major components to the private sector. The Tasias

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Has participated in several military exercises most recently being genres Shakti in 2018 and VU Shakti in 2019, after which the Indian air force air marshal

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By render seemed to have commented its reliability

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And precision of air to ground payload delivery. The 45 squadron of Tasias mark one has successfully flown over 1,500 sororities during trials during exercise cause John Shakti in 2018, the eight Tasias mark ones that were deployed each fluid, impressive six orders

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Per day. The I F

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Plan to deploy the number 45 flying dagger squadron to Srinagar air base by 2022, the first batch of 40 mark, one aircraft consists of 16 initial operational clearance or IOC standard aircraft were delivered in early 2019. While the delivery of the second batch of 16 full operational clearance or FLC standard aircraft commenced in late 2019 and led to the formation of the second Tasia squadron number 18 squatter known as the flying bullets

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In solora may of 2020, the IAF

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Will also receive eight Tasias twin seat trainer aircraft. Furthermore, an order has been placed for an additional 83 aircraft, which are to be delivered in the upgraded mark.

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When a standard by the

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Time these first 123 aircraft are delivered, the Tasias mark two is expected to be ready for series production by 2026 to 2027.

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And lastly, on 27, April, 2021, Tasias

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Mark one successfully test fire to Python five high off bore cider HOVs close combat missile had further validated the enhanced capability of the Derby BVR missile. Both missile scored direct hits on targets during their trials

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Potential operators in November of 2016, the Indian ministry of defense proposed exporting a Tasias with preliminary

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Talks, taking place with several friendly

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Countries in March of 2020. How indicated

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Plans to set up logistics facilities in Indonesia,

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Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and

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Vietnam, as part of potentially exporting the

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Stages. What do you think is the Tasia is good for the IAF? Will it be a successful export fighter? I hope they're pronounced some of these words correctly. If I didn't let me know. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed

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This episode, be sure to subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss any future episodes. You can also check out my YouTube channel. I'll leave the link in the show notes below. And lastly, you can find me on any social media platform

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At pilot photog be well,

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Stay safe and see you next time.