TEJAS | A case history of the advantage and disadvantage | India's first integrated fighter to tackle pakisthan | daily blog - 04

Making of Tejas was a big challenge for us. Due to the indifference of the government, India's aerospace industry, which was far ahead of China, lost the only aircraft manufacturing experience they had gained at the time of independence by making MARUT fighter. The HF-73 project also went to Germany. After that, inexperienced India had to gain time to build Tejas. It cannot be said that it is the perfect fighter. Again it cannot be said in any way that it failed. Tejas has one of the biggest advantages and disadvantages. Its size. Tejas is the smallest fighter in the world. During the construction of the Tejas, the pilots of the Air Force assisted the HAL and ADAR engineers and scientists directly in its design. But one thing everyone agreed was that it should be brought forward as a small but effective fighter as an initial project. So that India can master the basic design and critical sectors.

Now understand the benefits of being a small fighter: -

Being a small fighter, Tejas has low RCS. Carbon composite, titanium and rem coating have been widely used in Tejas. The smaller the radius, the less reflection of the radar wave. As a result, the enemy side will have problems in tracking. As a result, the enemy side will face difficulties in BVR fight. Not just BVR. Dog fight will also be a big problem. And that is a huge advantage for any fighter in class. We were studing an F-16 pilot interview. The topic was how important visibility is in dogfights. His statement is worth noting.

“F-16s is a threat to any opponent in dogfights. Because in Dogfight, in the middle of the sky, the enemy pilot will not be able to understand when the plane vanished. This huge advantage is that you can quickly take a far-reaching firing position without the enemy's eyes and the enimy can't even take maneuver counter. And the most ridiculous aircraft in Dog Fight is Typhoon. I can see it from many kilometers away. Russian planes also have the problem of getting bigger in size. But their super maneuverability gives them great advantages. In this case also Su-35 or India's Su-30 MKI TVC engine also gets the benefit. The size of the raffle is also quite compact. With its needle capability is great. That is why it is as difficult to catch the eye as it is to bring oneself to the place of advantage ”.

I hope you understand the importance of small size in your dogfight.

It is also convenient to store fighter in case of small size. Tejas always a handy fighter for the ground crew.

Now the problem: -

The biggest disadvantage is that there is no space for small fighter upgrades or placement of sensor components. Normally you can't put more things in small space. It does not need to be explained in detail. Due to lack of space in Tejas, at first indian scientist did not get a place to place IRST. Look at the picture. Exactly where the canopy ends and then the radar nose. Sukhoi or raffle has some space to solve this problem.

Secondly, india could not install "Missile Approaching and Warning System" or MAWS. Now MAWS has been installed in the two corners of the pylon so that the missile can be installed. However, that MAWS was not installed in Pylon Tejse.

Thirdly India could not install integrated jammer. Due to lack of space, pod based jammer will be installed at Tejas Mark-1A. Pod based jammers are highly effective. But it takes a lot of energy to work. That problem does not exist in electronic warfare systems like Rafal's Spectra.

Another big issue is low internal fuel capacity. The main internal fuel store of the fighter aircraft is on the wing of the fighter. This makes the wing a little heavier and the drag less. Due to the small size of the Tejas, the internal fuel capacity of the wing is low. The result is difficulty in the range. Although refueling probes have been installed to address this issue. However, there is a difference between increasing the range by refueling and increasing the internal fuel capacity.
However, the big reason is that the size of the Tejas Mark 2 is being increased

all photos are taken from google and indian defence websites.
pic credits for the all abobe websites.

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