Tejas Mk II preliminary design soon

The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is giving the final touches to the preliminary design of the light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk II, scheduled to be completed by the end of March. A separate project team from ADA and the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), dedicated to the upgraded version, is currently undertaking daily reviews to get the first cut of the design out by next month.

The main scope of Tejas Mk II programme is to have the engine changed from the current GE F-404 to GE F-414. A development contract for eight engines for the preliminary design phase has already been signed with GE, with the critical design review already been completed at its Boston facility. The Mk II fighter will have OBOGS (Onboard Oxygen Generating System), which is being developed by the Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (DEBEL), a Bengaluru-based Defence Research and Development Organisation lab.

Tejas Mk II will have a unified electronic warfare system aimed at detecting and ducking enemy radar and later jamming it. The Mk II project was sanctioned in 2009 at a cost about of ` 2,400 crore and post-design finalisation phase, two prototypes are set to roll out from the HAL hangars. The IAF has committed a minimum of squadrons of Tejas Mk II. SP