
Both the Indian Air Force and Pakistan Air Force envisioned something similar. IAF wants to replace the MiG-21, and PAF wants to replace the F-7 (reversed-engineered MiG-21). The competition between both nations has seen worse in each other.
South Asian mentality, high corruption, and lack of aerospace knowledge and expertise, India and Pakistan rely on two countries which do have aerospace expertise either, namely Russia and China.
Pakistan and India set operational requirements for both fighter jets to be the same, i.e. drop bombs on either side of Kashmir, an Indian control Muslim-majority state that Pakistan and China claim to be part of. Setting up poor vision with no experience in building fighter jets makes it even worse for both nations.
JF-17: TEMU fighter jet
China does not use the JF-17 fighter jet because it has developed its own, more advanced fighter jets like the J-10, J-11, and J-20 which better suit its military needs, considering its vast territory and strategic requirements, making the JF-17, considered a lower-cost option, less necessary for its air force; additionally, the JF-17 was primarily designed to meet Pakistan’s specific needs, not China’s requirement.
Compared to China’s newer fighter jets, the JF-17 is considered to have less advanced avionics and weapons systems originating from Chinese F-7 fighter jets. China knows that the JF-17 is nothing but a TEMU fighter jet.
With a vast expanse to defend, China needs modern fighter jets with extended range capable of carrying more weapons than JF-17. JF-17 has seven hard points compared to eleven J-10. J-10 ‘Vigorous Dragon’ is much larger than JF-17. The JF-17 is ideal for Pakistan, not for any other country.
Pakistan built JF-17 for a border skirmish with India. For its fighters to intercept Indian jets heading to Pakistan, the distance between the forward air bases and the border isn’t a lot. Then again, that is exactly why these bases are made in the first place, but the regular bases are not that far off either.
These jets can simply attach 1-2 external fuel tanks and send them close to the Indian border to drop some bombs before engaging the enemy. However, the majority of the time Pakistan relies on American-made F-16 to fight Indian Su-30. The F-16 can conduct air patrol with Pakistan’s Saab-made surveillance plane and go for aerial refuelling when low on fuel from the aerial tankers PAF currently has in its possession.
No matter how Pakistan sugarcoats Jf-17 Block 3s, its air-cooled AESA Radar is inaccurate, low payloads, poor thrust and constant engine problems make it unsustainable for buyers. Pakistan can tolerate 30 percent of the availability of JF-17 out of hundreds of JF-17. Meaning, that Pakistan could have always fully operational two squadrons of JF-17. For export customers who bought one squadron of JF-17 is miserable because only two or three fighter jets may be operational at one given time out of a single squadron.
JF-17’s flyaway cost is around $35~$40 million, but good luck flying the aircraft if you can fly it.
Inside story of HAL Tejas: TEMU Fighter Jet
According to Rahul Soren and Noel Moitra, both engineers at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, HAL Tejas is a big failure because: Its way too expensive, be it project cost or unit cost. The Kaveri engine proved to be a failure. India couldn’t develop an AESA radar of its own. Tejas MK1-A isn’t ready yet. The entire project has been lost in the game of IOC, IOC-II and FOC.
Rahul Soren and Noel Moitra were both involved in designing Tejas cockpit layout and directly involved in the development of the aircraft under Dr Kota Harinarayan.
Indian Air Force’s internal politics sabotaged the LCA, Noel Moitra said. Indian engineers received three months of basic training before designing the aircraft.
Apart from a core group of 60 odd professionals, the remaining 240 employees were in only to get a free 3-month trip to France. A lot of French and Swedish engineers helping out on the LCA. Dassault had taken up the FBW system and airframe, Thales was assigned to work on the display system and avionics suite, and Saab was assigned to work on the radar suite.
Every subcontractor engaged in Tejas projects received delayed payment and complained about non-payment, according to Soren. On and off subcontractors stopped working and withdrew from their work due to non-payment.
But nothing happened after that. Dr Abdul Kalam was busy with his Astra BVR missile in 88, but when did it see the light of day? The LCA die a sad death in the all-pervasive apathy. Till 1999, there had been no progress.
Now and then, there would be a design freeze, which after a couple of years of neglect, became obsolete. 12 GE F-404 engines had been acquired in 1983, one of which was cut up by GTRE to copy. They failed miserably, just not capable enough to understand single crystal blade theory. The Kaveri is still there, in the backwaters. More have been bought-GTRE has given up totally.
By now Tejas ran 20 years behind schedule. The salaries and sundry allowances of the 800+ people involved over 35 years cross 1000 crores. Add that to development costs, which have crossed $10 billion.
Now HAL sees the Tejas program as a milking machine for operational cost and sustainment from the Indian government. That will make the Tejas a white elephant.
Indian Air Force and Navy know how bad Tejas or Bejas is?
Low Aspect Ratio winged aircraft have very poor tolerance of prevailing turbulence, high overall drag increasing fuel consumption, very high initial turn performance, poor sustained turn performance where drag rises very rapidly and cannot be countered by engine thrust, etc. Low-speed performance is poor and they are prone to deep stall, though they rarely enter a spin.
In aeronautics, the aspect ratio of a wing is the ratio of its span to its mean chord. It is equal to the square of the wingspan divided by the wing area. Thus, a long, narrow wing has a high aspect ratio, whereas a short, wide wing has a low aspect ratio.
The Tejas is a very expensive aircraft hitting the taxpayer. Given HAL’s dismal record, it is unlikely that India will find any customer for this soon-to-be white elephant. The Marut HF-24 was a flying coffin, with pilots killed because they couldn’t jettison the canopy before ejecting. Its safety ratio is worse than that of the MiG-21. The Tejas hasn’t flown enough to bring up the subject of flight safety. Let it fly operationally for two full years and then talk about it.
With only 40 percent availability rate, Tejas Mk1A fly-away cost is a whopping $77 million which is more expensive than a better platform like FA-50 and M-346FA.
HAL’s production rate is very low due to infrastructure, only eight aircraft per year. It has one primary assembly line for Tejas and another will be ready by late 2027.
Considering the Indian’s corrupt and pathological liars, the actual performance was way worse than the specs sheet. LCA/tejas had some test flights, however, the performance was way below what’s expected, for example, the whole aeroplane is overweight, which makes LCA a fighter which is only capable of doing 6–7 g manoeuvres, while it’s advertised as maximum g is 9.
Also, due to the fact that India is still a long way behind in material engineering (and many other fundamental technologies), lots of materials used on LCA are either not strong enough or too heavy, which limits the performance as well.
Just look at the timeline.
1969- The government accepts a proposal by HAL for a new aircraft similar to Marut.
1975- HAL completes designs but fails to procure a formidable engine for the same.
1983- IAF reports the need for a new aircraft to replace Mig 21’s the life of which would end by 1995.
1984- The Aeronautical Development Agency is assigned to manage the LCA program. The first flight was scheduled for 1990.
1998 – The program was delayed for some or the other reason. By 1998, due to the nuclear tests and restrictions that followed, most of the components had to be manufactured locally, which otherwise were to be imported.
2001- It was not until 2001 that Tejas took its first flight owing to a lot of design reviews, lack of indigenous aeronautical knowledge and funding.
Tejas program suffers from a lack of technical expertise, political instabilities, the government’s lack of authority over the entire project and the outsourcing of components.
HAL itself is a big failure. Reasons are old people, even older machinery, slow/defective work and useless reasons to cover their stand. Most people who work at HAL are not worth the salary they pay. It’s high time HAL needs a revamp and kick off unnecessary dino-babies.
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