Thread: india's MCA

My, my. It looks like Captain Drunk has an alter-ego.

What MCA? First we should get LCA inducted into IAF. There are still problem with kaveri & MMR, both of which are overbudget, unproven & long way from been finished article.

Dont worry about LCA it will be inducted.Right now A prototype of India's indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft made a supersonic flight. for the first time carrying two state-of-the-art air-to-air missiles. This indicated the jet's entry into the operational flight test phase. The Radar and engine problem is going to solveed now.

MCA sucsess depends on indigenous Kaveri engine. If the Kaveri engine will be over than we can have hopes on MCA. Without the complete sucsess on Kaveri we cannot go further.

She will Fly in Indian Colours.
The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the aircraft design house of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in Bangalore has formed a core team to design a medium combat aircraft (MCA), an advanced multi-role fighter with stealth capabilities.
the MCA will use radar-absorbent materials to reduce detection by radars, making it a stealth fighter.The advanced aircraft will be build with extensive use of composites and have smart sensors like micro electronic mechanical systems (Mems), that can automatically detect strains or weaknesses in the airframe or wings. “The IAF is giving a lot of inputs for the design,” sources said.

Originally Posted by sukhoi

She will Fly in Indian Colours.
The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the aircraft design house of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in Bangalore has formed a core team to design a medium combat aircraft (MCA), an advanced multi-role fighter with stealth capabilities.
the MCA will use radar-absorbent materials to reduce detection by radars, making it a stealth fighter.The advanced aircraft will be build with extensive use of composites and have smart sensors like micro electronic mechanical systems (Mems), that can automatically detect strains or weaknesses in the airframe or wings. “The IAF is giving a lot of inputs for the design,” sources said.

Thats all well and good but lets not get carried away and think for a while. India is still struggling to induct the Tejas ,work on which was started a long time back. There are still a lot of issues to be sorted out on the kaveri engine and even after all this time and investment the MMR still only operates in A2A mode. I don't know how much work has been done on Astra so I won't comment on that . The main priority should be to sort out these issues first and then think about the MCA

just my $0.02

Thats why i said MCA life depends on Kaveri engine.The problems of LCA is solving up and soon it will be operational. Right now they are working on the Multi-mode Radar and Kaveri engine.Some more Flight test of LCA and then it will be over.India is also taking help from France and Russia on its Engine and Radar.

If the Kaveri engine problem is solved then we can see MCA flying.The Kaveri engines in the MCA will have a slightly higher dry thrust than in the LCA engine. These engines will also have thrust-vectoring nozzles. It is unknown which company will be providing this technology, or whether it will be developed in India itself. A supercruise capability is not being sought. The twin engined aircraft is planned to have a thrust ratio of 7:8:1.

Kaveri three-stage transonic fan, designed for good stall margin and bird strike capability, handles an air mass flow of 78 kg/s and develops a pressure Combustion Chamber Liner ratio of 3.4. The six-stage variable capacity transonic compressor of Kaveri develops a pressure ratio of 6.4. The variable schedule of inlet guide vanes and two rows of stator is through FADEC control system to open the stator blades in a predetermined manner. High intensity low UD ratio annular combustor of Kaveri engine incorporates air blast injection of fuel for uniform outlet temperature profile and reduced carbon emission.
Kaveri high pressure turbine is provided with an efficient cooling design incorporating augmented convection-***-film cooling for the vanes and combination cooling for the rotor blade to handle up to 1700 K turbine entry temperature. Kabini engine comprising high pressure compressor, combustor and high pressure turbine has undergone high altitude test at facilities abroad successfully demonstrating the flat rating concept of Kaveri engine assembly and in particular the combustor high altitude ignition and stability performances.
Kaveri engine has been specifically designed for Indian environment. The engine is a variable cycle-flat-rated engine in which the thrust drop due to high ambient, forward speed is well compensated by the increased turbine entry temperature at the spool Kabini altitude test speed.

I agree with what you said. Kaveri is going to power the MCA. And if I am not mistaken India has sought out SCENMA of France to help with kaveri. I am not sure about Russia though. In my humble opinion Israel would be the country to turn to. I believe the E/L 2032 would easily replace the MMR(atleast till the MMR is operational in A2G mode and get the LCA inducted in the IAF) and maybe at a later date the Tejas could also accomodate the 2052 or atleast incorporate some of 2052's AESA technology in the MMR. And if I remember correctly MCA will have supercruise capable engines. With all the talk about the single crystal blade technology going around I guess it is safe to speculate that by the time MCA is developed India would also have developed its own supercruise capable Kaveri..albeit with western help ofcourse.

Lol. Supercruise?

MCA is a SUBSONIC aircraft, boys.

RAM doesn't make it a stealth aircraft you still need proper shaping.

Originally Posted by highsea

Lol. Supercruise?

MCA is a SUBSONIC aircraft, boys.

oops..my bad.

Originally Posted by highsea

My, my. It looks like Captain Drunk has an alter-ego.

LOL!!! It proabaly is him just incase he gets banned.

some info on the MCA

Country of Origin India
Builder HAL/ADA
Role multi-role attack
Similar Aircraft PAK FA, J 12, JSF
Wing Span
Length
Height
Weight
Engine two, Kaveri
Maximum speed
Cruising speed
Range
Service Ceiling
Armament
Crew one
Cost
User Countries India

India's DRDO intends to develop a stealthy Medium Combat Aircraft, a further extension of its LCA design, in order to replace the Jaguar and Mirage inventory beginning around 2010. Development costs are expected to be over US$2 billion. As of mid-1997 the MCA design concept had no vertical stabilizer and employed an advanced flight control system coupled to axisymetric nozzles. The twin engined aircraft is planned to have a thrust ratio of 7:8:1, and GE, SNECMA, and Klimov have all offered to provide the engines for this aircraft.

The twin-engined Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA) is a stealthy Gen-5 combat aicraft optimised for strike missions. It will complement LCA and Su-30MKI as India's leading combat planes. If given the go-ahead, it should fly before 2010 and be inducted by 2015. Right now it is only a concept.

India is currently developing LCA a light multirole attack plane. The only components common between MCA and LCA will be part of the wing, the Kaveri engine, and some systems and subsystems. MCA will be much heavier (12 ton dry weight).

The LCA has started flying in 2001 and should be inducted around 2008. MCA itself should make its first flight before 2010. It will face direct competition from China's J-12, which should come out before 2015.

Why India needs the MCA

MCA is basically envisioned as a replacement for the British Jaguar and Mirage 2000 the IAF flies, which will be phased out by 2015.

Propulsion

The State owned Gas Turbine Research Establishment [GTRE] was to indigenously develop the Kaveri engine to power the LCA and MCA. But there have been major slippages in all the milestones. GE, SNECMA, and Klimov had all offered to provide the engines for this aircraft.

The Kaveri engines in the MCA will have a slightly higher dry thrust than in the LCA engine. These engines will also have thrust-vectoring nozzles. It is unknown which company will be providing this technology, or whether it will be developed in India itself. A supercruise capability is not being sought. The twin engined aircraft is planned to have a thrust ratio of 7:8:1. The MCA will use India's own radar-absorbent material to reduce radar cross-section.

Stealth

Stealthiness will be a priority and hence the MCA will have two small, outward-canted fins and the external fuel tanks will be mounted above the wings. Absence of a vertical fin improves stealth. However, not all weapons will be internal and hence will compromize the stealth.

If all progresses according to plan, MCA will become first military fighter that has no tail - at all. USA is the only country to have seriously pursued such aircraft. It experimented with tail-less design in X-36. F-16X concept is another tail-less concept.

Tail-less design has been seen in Flying Wings, but these represent a separate class of aeroplanes. To realize the MCA, India will have to develop cutting edge technology. US help in this area is obviously expected.

http://www.india-defence.com/specifications/fighters/58