Tejas MkII's Eight BVRAAMs Capacity Will Give IAF an Edge in Air Defence

India's homegrown Tejas MkII fighter jet is set to revolutionize the Indian Air Force's (IAF) air defence capabilities, and it's all thanks to its impressive Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) capacity. This agile fighter can carry a whopping eight BVRAAMs simultaneously, making it a true game-changer in modern aerial combat.

The Tejas MkII's ability to carry eight BVRAAMs is unmatched by any other single-engine fighter in its class. Even the IAF's upgraded Mirage 2000-5, a formidable aircraft in its own right, can only carry six MICA missiles. This means the Tejas MkII boasts a significant advantage in firepower, allowing it to engage and neutralize multiple enemy aircraft before they even come within visual range.

This increased missile capacity translates to a force multiplier for the IAF. With the Tejas MkII, the IAF can effectively patrol and defend a larger airspace with fewer aircraft. This is a significant advantage in a region where air superiority is paramount.

The Tejas MkII is particularly well-suited for Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) missions. These missions require fighter jets to be scrambled quickly to intercept and neutralize potential threats. With its eight BVRAAMs, the Tejas MkII can respond to these threats with overwhelming firepower, ensuring the safety and security of Indian airspace.

The Tejas MkII's versatility extends beyond its impressive BVRAAM capacity. The aircraft features 11 hardpoints, including two dual pylons that can carry four missiles each. This allows for a variety of weapon configurations, making the Tejas MkII adaptable to different mission requirements.

The development of the Tejas MkII is a testament to India's growing prowess in aerospace engineering and its commitment to self-reliance in defense technology. The aircraft's advanced capabilities, including its BVRAAM capacity, demonstrate India's ability to produce world-class fighter jets.

 

[sanket]

Very Good development, But what about WVR.........???, Apart From 8 BVR ,WVR are too important how many it can carry.Modern ighter Jets should carry both BVR & WVR Missiles

 

[Kira]

Its not a surprise as the Tejas MK2 will be having the more powerful GE-414 engines which are much more powerful than the older powerplants present on the older Jaguars and the Miarges.
Besides the carrying capacity of a jet depends on which armaments and on which pylons are used depending on the mission and aerodynamic performance.

 

[Ashutosh]

Wrong- I request to go and see( one can search - Tejas mk2 weapon package on Google) the Mk2's weapon package......one will be able to clearly see 9 HP for BVRAAMS+ 2 WVRAAMS on wingtip.

 

[Ashutosh]

Very Good development, But what about WVR.........???, Apart From 8 BVR ,WVR are too important how many it can carry.Modern ighter Jets should carry both BVR & WVR Missiles

9 BVRAAM to be exact+ 2 WVRAAMS on wingtips.

 

[Pink Panther]

Very Good development, But what about WVR.........???, Apart From 8 BVR ,WVR are too important how many it can carry.Modern ighter Jets should carry both BVR & WVR Missiles

Tejas MK2 will be our work horse for a long time when it becomes available, only almighty knows when ?, but why do we compare it with the ancient Mirage-2000, we should rather be comparing it with equally Modern Gripen E that can carry 7 Meteor Missiles or AIM-120 AMRAAM's for it's payload which is really great, even the legendary F16 carries only 6 A2A missiles, but we have to first see Tejas MK2 fitted with 8 A2A missiles and flying to believe it.

 

[Pink Panther]

Its not a surprise as the Tejas MK2 will be having the more powerful GE-414 engines which are much more powerful than the older powerplants present on the older Jaguars and the Miarges.
Besides the carrying capacity of a jet depends on which armaments and on which pylons are used depending on the mission and aerodynamic performance.

it is not just the engine, why F16 can only carry 6 A2A missiles, Gripen-E that has the same engine GE-F414 as Tejas Mk2 can carry only 7 A2A missiles, it actualy depends on wing strength and body design, usually a jet with delta wing can carry little more number of missiles and can have more hard points than Conventional wing Aircrafts.

 

[ABHIJIT APSINGIKAR]

The people at HAL and this reporter who claim Teas MK2 will carry 8 BVR missiles are smoking weed. How conveniently they forget that Tejas MKII will incorporate sub systems such as Self Protection Jammer (SPJ), Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) in podded form factors in addition to at least 1 drop tank. Thats a subtraction of hardpoints right there. So even assuming they fit all of them with missiles for air defense missions it would still be no more than 6-7 BVRAAM, with two WVR carried on wing tip hardpoints.

 

[AK S]

The people at HAL and this reporter who claim Teas MK2 will carry 8 BVR missiles are smoking weed. How conveniently they forget that Tejas MKII will incorporate sub systems such as Self Protection Jammer (SPJ), Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) in podded form factors in addition to at least 1 drop tank. Thats a subtraction of hardpoints right there. So even assuming they fit all of them with missiles for air defense missions it would still be no more than 6-7 BVRAAM, with two WVR carried on wing tip hardpoints.

It has 13 proposed hard-points and 8 BVR is certainly doable.

 

[ABHIJIT APSINGIKAR]

It has 13 proposed hard-points and 8 BVR is certainly doable.

Not possible as a single fighter so it wont have more than 10-11, even assuming that it will have 11 hard points as promised in design, there are some hard points reserved for external fuel tanks due to need to maintain center of gravity. So center pylon will be invariably a fuel tank. The wing tips will always be reserved for WVR and usually in even air defense missions aircraft tend to carry a BVR/WVR mix of 60:40 ratio. so expect atleast 4 WVR even in air defense configuration.

So with the sub systems such as SPJ and MAWS mentioned, they will invariably capture at least 2 more hard points near center pylon. So 11-3=8 hardpoints are available of which at least 4 will go towards WVR, in which case it would have 4 BVR AAM carriage capability. Now assuming they limit load out of WVR to just 2 wingtip hard points, it will carry 2 more BVR AAM so 4-6 AAM is best case scenario.

 

[ABHIJIT APSINGIKAR]

It has 13 proposed hard-points and 8 BVR is certainly doable.

Not sure where u got information about 13 hard points from, but all credible sources indicate 11 hard points.

How Tejas Mark 2 is evolving into a bigger, powerful fighter

www.ajaishukla.com

https://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/operational-capability-of-lca-tejas-variants/

 

[Frank]

Order 300 Tejas mk2 and cancel phoren maal MRFA...

The delivery timeline will be same anyway

Plus price of 300 mk2<<<<104 rafale

300mk2 ORDER WILL BE DEVIDED 50:50 BETWEEN HAL AND PRIVATE COMAPNY

114 Rafale will cost around 30-35 billion

In 2016 F3 rafale costed us 8 billion euro ~10 billon dollar.

Almost 270 million dollar per F3 Rafale.

Now it's 2024, 8 years of inflation.

And Rafale has new F4 version.

Let's assume the price of F4 Rafale after improvements and inflation 290-320 million per jet

Thus price of 114 jets will cost at least 30-35 billion dollar.
May reach 40 billion due to cost escalation bcz of local production like Su40MKI

Also 300 Tejas mk2 production order would be divided between Hal and private company (Tata or Adani or Mahindra) 50:50. Delivery will complete within 8/9 years if both (Hal n private company) produce 20 jet per year which is very much possible.

 

[Pink Panther]

Not possible as a single fighter so it wont have more than 10-11, even assuming that it will have 11 hard points as promised in design, there are some hard points reserved for external fuel tanks due to need to maintain center of gravity. So center pylon will be invariably a fuel tank. The wing tips will always be reserved for WVR and usually in even air defense missions aircraft tend to carry a BVR/WVR mix of 60:40 ratio. so expect atleast 4 WVR even in air defense configuration.

So with the sub systems such as SPJ and MAWS mentioned, they will invariably capture at least 2 more hard points near center pylon. So 11-3=8 hardpoints are available of which at least 4 will go towards WVR, in which case it would have 4 BVR AAM carriage capability. Now assuming they limit load out of WVR to just 2 wingtip hard points, it will carry 2 more BVR AAM so 4-6 AAM is best case scenario.

like the proposesd F21 with triple launcher in one hard point at each side of the wing we can carry 4 more A2A missiles, 12 in total, but this will increase the weight of already too heavy Tejas and might also affect the max ceiling, as they have to strengthen the wings, Gripen-E is best for it's payload capability it can carry 1 ton lighter payload and can carry 7 Meteors and can Super Cruise.

 

[NSR]

What kind of IAF commanders agreed for the disgusting Mirage-2000UPG contract without an AESA radar and a new engine at such an exorbitant price?

How can Mirage-2000UPG with 6 Mica missiles with a range of about 70 kms will go on to fight a F-16 with AMRAAMs with a range of 110+ kms reach?

Some of those incompetent war planners and acquisition czars should have been court martialed for blatant lack of warcraft.
At the upgrade time, Rafales were coming out of production so they should have just ordered Rafales instead,

Very disgusting decision as most countries refused to upgrade at such high costs.

 

[Sandeep]

The delay on Tejas MK2 was because they were still negotiating a engine deal with the USA and engine deals are complicated and are a closely guarded secret that no country wants to give or they only give you a small part of the engine technology. Luckily we managed to get a technology transfer agreement of 80% which nobody has ever given before as the usual amount is around 40%.

Now they need to quickly start manufacturing the jet as we need to increase the number of squadrons and we need more fire power that can go beyond the border and strike deep targets. We also need to start manufacturing the AMCA as they have given the clearance to build the prototype and that should be done on a priority basis now.

As for the number of hard points we can carry more weapons but we can even install a triple pylon instead of just two. In future we will need to carry a lot more weapons so they should make sure that they have designed and developed the wing to be able to carry additional weight with the threat level increasing.

 

[ABHIJIT APSINGIKAR]

like the proposesd F21 with triple launcher in one hard point at each side of the wing we can carry 4 more A2A missiles, 12 in total, but this will increase the weight of already too heavy Tejas and might also affect the max ceiling, as they have to strengthen the wings, Gripen-E is best for it's payload capability it can carry 1 ton lighter payload and can carry 7 Meteors and can Super Cruise.

We have twin launcher not triple launcher, anyway just because u have twin rail launcher does not mean you can carelessly attach it. The weight tolerance of hardpoints, the center of gravity all come into play. So you need to evenly distribute the weight. Apart from this since DRDO is also producing IRST in podded form factor, the sensor is standard fit in both air defense and multi-role configuration. Similarly since the FLIR is essential element of normal flight during combat, targeting pod may itself be a standard fit.

Anyway in a multi-role mission configuration, those launchers would need to support at least 4-8 SAAW smart munitions mounted on 1 or 2 quad launchers. In such scenario number of hard points available would be 4-5 now coming back to 60:40 BVR/WVR standard combat loadout ratio when you have 4 hard points left, 1 will accommodate WVR missiles on twin launchers in addition to wing tip launchers. The other 3 even assuming mount a BVR on twin launchers will still be capable of launching at most 6 BVRAAM.

 

[Ranjeet Singh]

Tejas MK-II must have super cruise capable at all heights, have triple and double missile launch adapters according to mission requirement, MUT and Laser weapon firing capable fighter !

 

[RalphRearden]

The delay on Tejas MK2 was because they were still negotiating a engine deal with the USA and engine deals are complicated and are a closely guarded secret that no country wants to give or they only give you a small part of the engine technology. Luckily we managed to get a technology transfer agreement of 80% which nobody has ever given before as the usual amount is around 40%.

Now they need to quickly start manufacturing the jet as we need to increase the number of squadrons and we need more fire power that can go beyond the border and strike deep targets. We also need to start manufacturing the AMCA as they have given the clearance to build the prototype and that should be done on a priority basis now.

As for the number of hard points we can carry more weapons but we can even install a triple pylon instead of just two. In future we will need to carry a lot more weapons so they should make sure that they have designed and developed the wing to be able to carry additional weight with the threat level increasing.

Look, have you ever wondered why private sector is so fast and nimble.....becasue they dont wait for all the cards to fall in place before even starting....If HAL babus were actually smart...we would have created at least 4 MK2 airframes by now ready to be integrated the moment deal is signed for F414....but doing these things require effort...which is opposite of what you want to do since you won't be rewarded for that effort....so they just sit around until they have no excuse to delay....DPSUs must be privatized asap to make them accountable with govt only having board seats for strategic decision making

 

[Anant]

like the proposesd F21 with triple launcher in one hard point at each side of the wing we can carry 4 more A2A missiles, 12 in total, but this will increase the weight of already too heavy Tejas and might also affect the max ceiling, as they have to strengthen the wings, Gripen-E is best for it's payload capability it can carry 1 ton lighter payload and can carry 7 Meteors and can Super Cruise.

True, but having something like the triple missile launcher would also require the hardpoint to be strengthened specifically to take the additional weight.

 

[Anant]

Order 300 Tejas mk2 and cancel phoren maal MRFA...

The delivery timeline will be same anyway

Plus price of 300 mk2<<<<104 rafale

300mk2 ORDER WILL BE DEVIDED 50:50 BETWEEN HAL AND PRIVATE COMAPNY

114 Rafale will cost around 30-35 billion

In 2016 F3 rafale costed us 8 billion euro ~10 billon dollar.

Almost 270 million dollar per F3 Rafale.

Now it's 2024, 8 years of inflation.

And Rafale has new F4 version.

Let's assume the price of F4 Rafale after improvements and inflation 290-320 million per jet

Thus price of 114 jets will cost at least 30-35 billion dollar.
May reach 40 billion due to cost escalation bcz of local production like Su40MKI

Also 300 Tejas mk2 production order would be divided between Hal and private company (Tata or Adani or Mahindra) 50:50. Delivery will complete within 8/9 years if both (Hal n private company) produce 20 jet per year which is very much possible.

The price of a Rafale F4, as ordered by the UAE, stood at about 222.5 million USD each as at the end of 2021. This price included some modifications, weapons, logistics support, infrastructure set-up, etc.

An Indian order would not need as many of the weapons (since the IAF would push for indigenous weapon integration with such a large order), and a lot of logistics and infrastructure already exists. Now, even if you factor in inflation and the additional premium of building the jets in India, the price of each jet would sit somewhere around 200-220 million USD, which works out to some 25 billion USD at most.

Now, coming to the Tejas price you keep quoting erroneously, the 97 Tejas Mk 1A order is for 65,000 crores, which works out to just north of 80 million USD per jet. The Tejas Mk 2 will be larger with different equipment, and will therefore be more expensive. If we therefore take a 40% premium (since things like the F414 being manufactured in India will be more expensive than the standard US-made F414), the price of a Tejas Mk 2 comes to 112 million USD. This may well be higher at the start before economies of scale are achieved.

With those two figures, the best case scenario is that you would get about 223 Tejas Mk 2s for 25 billion USD. Therefore, the most Tejas Mk 2s you can get for the price of the MRFA program is around 223, not 300, as you keep claiming.

Now, while 223 is certainly more than 114, the Rafale is also considerably more capable than the Tejas Mk 2. That is not to say that we should cancel the Tejas Mk 2. We shouldn't. It is a promising aircraft, and we should be looking at larger procurement. However, that should be to bolster squadron numbers and enlarge the IAF rather than cancel MRFA and open up critical holes in the IAF's strength.