The Tejas LCA : Life Beyond the IOC W ith much fanfare, mutual back-thumping and generous distribution of accolades, the documents for completion of the IOC Phase II (sic) were handed over to the Defence Minister on 20 December 2013. The fact that the first series production Tejas LCA aircraft will be available to the Indian Air Force only in the second half of 2014, was obfuscated in the euphoria of this ‘Historical Event’. No questions were asked and no answers were given ! There is a long way ahead beyond the IOC and the Full Operational Clearance (FOC) is far from being achieved. At the ceremony for the IOC, wild promises were made by ADA, HAL and others. These were accepted at face value by the Defence Minister and reiterated by the CAS, with the ‘promise’ that “FOC will be completed by December 2014”. Most of those who uttered these fictional promises would not be in their respective chairs for long, and have therefore cleverly absolved themselves of any accountability, which has been the single most damaging lacuna in the 30-year saga of the Tejas light combat aircraft. that the time required to do this will be a minimum of two years - or more. The daunting tasks ahead include midair refuelling, high AoA clearance, envelope expansion to 8 g, ventral tank integration, BVR integration, additional weapons including those on tandem carriage, gun integration, auto pilot higher modes and others. Full Operational Clearance entails clearance of the aircraft to the full extent of its planned -and agreed upon - performance envelope for uninhibited operation in service. Apart from envelope clearance, feedback from the user, who will be flying the IOC aircraft for any improvements, or modifications, is an integral and mandatory part of the FOC. The earliest that the IAF can expect to form a ‘Handling Flight’ with a minimum of four aircraft (six would be far more useful) is by end-2015. The FOC would by then either have been completed or be very close to completion, thus defeating the very purpose of practical feedback. If one is to wait for this, then the obvious repercussion would be yet another delay in induction of the Tejas LCA into the IAF. And what does the FOC entail ? At the very outset it is necessary to understand what FOC means and the quantum of work involved, which reveals 52 VAYU