【Military Subplane】Author: Lu Zhi
As we all know, India has a very miraculous fighter plane, which has been developed for decades but has not been delayed in equipping its troops, and the amount of equipment is pitifully small today. The J-10 fighter developed at the same time is not only flourishing, but also exported, and even the J-10's next-generation fighter J-20 has been equipped with troops in batches, and this fighter is the famous LCA fighter. Recently, India made its first flight of an improved version of the LCA fighter, the LCA MK1A fighter. So what are the changes in the new version of the LCA Tejas fighter? Can the improvement process of the J-10 be called advanced?
▲ Image source: Internet
The ordinary version of the LCA fighter is relatively similar to the early Thunder fighter on the mainland in terms of overall technical performance, so in fact, if India can really improve the LCA fighter, then India will indeed have a light fighter with similar combat effectiveness to the Thunder, and it will definitely become India's main force with hundreds of them, enough to dominate South Asia.
▲ Image source: Internet
The earliest mass-produced version of the J-10 fighter in the continental is the J-10A, which is close to the performance of the F16 fighter in the early stage, and the J-10B has replaced some new equipment and improved the aerodynamic layout, especially the use of the new DSI air intake, and the J-10C is in place in one step, directly changed to a 4-and-a-half generation fighter, and competes with fighters such as Typhoon Rafale. In contrast, the LCA MK1A fighter is difficult to benchmark with the J-10C fighter, just from the appearance, it can be seen that the MK1A is basically no different from the previous MK1, and the changes in the airframe structure are far less than the J-10A to J-10BC models. If you want to say that the biggest change, of course, is the phased array radar from Israel used, so if you can really improve the MK1A, the performance in all aspects may not reach the level of the Thunder Block3, but it may still be stronger than the early Thunder.
▲ Image source: Internet
According to the current public information in India, deliveries of the LCA MK1A began this year, and a total of 73 units have been ordered, which is a lot more than the previous order of 32 LCA MK1s. Of course, India is obviously not going to give up on upgrading the LCA fighter in the near future, which means that the LCA MK1A is not the last version, and the more powerful MK2 is India's ultimate goal in the LCA project. The difference between the MK2 and the early MK1 is basically very close to the J-10A and J-10C, not only to improve the radar avionics and weapon system and even the fuselage structure, but also to replace it with a more powerful engine, the most likely source is the American F414.
▲ Image source: Internet
But in any case, the MK2 is still a fighter that does not weigh much. The Thunder Block 3 and future improved models can also use Continental's newly developed 100 kN mid-thrust engine. So even if it is MK2, the LCA project still does not cross the class, and it is still a relatively low-level fighter, so it will not be compared with the old MiG-21. What's even more interesting is that both the recently stocked LCA MK1A and the future MK2 are on the shelves in India and ready to be sold. However, since there are no orders at the moment, the performance of the Indian Air Force is not very good, and there was a crash some time ago, it may be difficult for India to export the desired exports. And at this stage, Pakistan already has the Thunder Dragon fighter and the J-10CE fighter, I am afraid that no matter how this LCA fighter is changed, it will be difficult to compare with the Thunder and J-10CE, and the LCA fighter will definitely not usher in his era after 40 years of development as described by the American media.
▲ Image source: Internet