NEWINDPRESS (sept 2 07) The Aeronautics Development Agency (ADA) is looking at designing and developing a supersonic lead-in fighter trainer (LIFT), ADA Director, Dr P S Subramaiam, has said. During his presentation on “LCA (Tejas) development and way ahead” at a technical programme organised by the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI) on Saturday, he said the supersonic LIFT would be developed on the basic platform of the LCA Tejas. The aim of the supersonic LIFT was to allow trainee fighter pilots a transition phase after training on the transonic advanced jet trainers, Hawks. “We are working on the configuration of this advanced fighter trainer,” he said without specifying any deadlines for the project, but added that the advantage was in already having the LCA components to further develop into the supersonic LIFT. He said two naval variants of the LCA would be complete by mid-2008 when one variant would be ready for test flights. Subrmaniam said the LCA prototype vehicle (PV)-5 would be the lead-in naval variant on which a system called the leading edge vortex controller (LEVCON) would be added to assist the aircraft in challenging conditions of landing on an aircraft carrier while on the move at full speed. “The next nine months will see extensive systems integration on the naval variant, before it is ready for test flights,” he said. He said six Tejas aircraft had logged 392.45 hrs in 742 flights and the project would gather momentum in the next few months to ensure that the initial operational clearance was obtained on time in 2008. On September 3 (Monday), the LCA is expected to take off with drop tanks as part of this speeded up programme. Subramaniam said ADA had also initiated work on its own on the medium combat aircraft (MCA), a programme for which the government has yet to accord sanction. He said scientists were aiming to integrate advanced technologies like stealth, artificial intelligence based controls, and advanced electro-optic sensors. Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) Director, T Mohana Rao, in his presentation said his scientists were struggling to reduce the weight of the Kaveri engine to 1,050 Kgs as required by ADA for the LCA Tejas. Rao said of the nine engine prototypes, the first three weighed 1,432 Kgs, the fourth to eighth weighed 1,235 Kgs while the ninth weighed 1.101.1 Kgs.
