Tag Archives: Kalianda A Muthana

First combat-worthy Tejas takes to skies

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Air Commodore Kalianda A. Muthana flies indigenous fighter plane for 40 minutes

Bengaluru:

The first Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas in Final Operational Clearance (FOC)-Standard (SP-21) took to the skies for its maiden flight in Bengaluru on Tuesday last, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) said. 

Piloted by Air Commodore Kalianda Appaya Muthana (Retd.), Chief Test Flying (Fixed Wing), the aircraft took-off from HAL Airport at around 12.30 pm, the Bengaluru-headquartered defence Public Sector Unit said in a statement. It was air-borne for 40 minutes.

This flight signifies exemplary team work between various stakeholders of the LCA Tejas programme such as HAL, Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance, Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), Indian Air Force (IAF) and Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), HAL Chairman and Managing Director R. Madhavan said.

  K.A.Muthana

15 fighters by April 2021

HAL is targeting 15 fighters by April 2021.  The flight is the first step in a series of things lined up to enable the IAF raise a second squadron of Tejas in Sulur, Tamil Nadu. The first squadron of Tejas — Flying Daggers — is already operating from there. 

“HAL achieved the momentous feat within a record time of 12 months after release of Drawing Applicability List (DAL) and SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) by CEMILAC”, the statement said. “This would pave the way for production of remaining 15 fighters from FOC (Final Operational Clearance) block, which are planned to be delivered during the next financial year,” it said.

Advanced features

The FOC aircraft are equipped with advanced features such as Air-to-Air refuelling and Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile system. “It imbibes a lot of manufacturing improvements which were based on the operational feedback of LCA-IOC (Initial Operational Clearance) fleet with IAF”, HAL said.

On February 20, 2019, the IAF had finally agreed that the indigenously developed and built Tejas was combat-ready and received the ‘release to service’ certificate — which means the fighter got the FOC — from DRDO, whose lab Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA)  designed the aircraft. 

First conceived in 1983

The aircraft, which was first conceived in 1983, is being produced by HAL. Although it was conceived in 1983, the project was only sanctioned in 1993. The FOC and release to service happened close on the heels of the final DAL (Drawing Applicability Lists) of Tejas was released to HAL on Dec. 31. 

The aircraft was named Tejas (meaning radiance in Sanskrit) by Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he was the Prime Minister. 

The cost of the programme is estimated at Rs. 39,000 crore. Tejas will eventually replace the ageing fleet of MiG-21 planes. All squadrons of Tejas will be made up of 20 planes in total, including four in reserve.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / March 19th, 2020

The Pilot Who Helped Tejas Breast The FoC Tape

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Air Cmde Muthana got a ‘dousing’ reception as he got out of the TEJAS after the flight that landed it the Final Operational Clearance

As Muthu taxied back to the dispersal after the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) sortie of the TEJAS Mk1 SP-17, now with a tail number of LA-2017, on March 17, 2019, he was clearly surprised by the reception he got. The spontaneous celebration that involved some water-dousing and hoisting him on their shoulders by his Light Combat Aircraft team and the large group of HAL employees was heart-warming to say the least.

Air Commodore Kalianda Appaya Muthana has been probably among the few outstanding fighter pilots and professionals of my generation who did not rise to the very upper echelons of the IAF leadership. Reticent and soft-spoken, but with just a hint of swagger, he was a natural flier from the word go, and though I never served alongside him in any squadron, he was a highly rated fighter jock wherever he went.

No one knows this better than Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa (Retd) , the IAF’s previous chief and Muthana’s squadron-mate on MiG-21s in 29 Squadron (Scorpios). Dhanoa reminisces, “We were together for the first time in the early 1980s on the MiG-21 Type 96 in Sirsa, and then again as senior squadron leaders on the same type in Jamnagar, where I was the flight commander. The squadron was assessed very highly by the IAF’s inspection team and after I left, Muthu took over as flight commander – the good run continued, with the Scorpios winning the IAF’s marksmanship trophy called Ekalavya. He was free, frank, fair and fearless.”

After tick-marking all the boxes in his career, Muthu followed the traditional path of the creamy layer of fighter pilots as he transitioned from being a flying instructor to joining the elite band of test pilots, commanding a squadron and a fighter base. Chosen to lead the SU-30 upgrade project in Russia, he returned two years later to take charge as the Chief Operations Officer of Air Force Station Pune, home to the first SU-30 MKI squadron (20 Squadron).

After leading the National Flight Test Centre (NFTC), which was closely involved with HAL in pushing the TEJAS towards squadron induction, Muthu quit the IAF to join HAL. It was a time when the TEJAS project had taken off for sure but had not lit its afterburners yet! Though the first order for 40 aircraft had already been signed and production of the initial series had commenced, the project needed further credibility as it grappled with issues of maintainability and sortie generation rates in the first IAF squadron. It was an ideal transition and a win-win situation for both HAL and the IAF as there could not have been a better professional to steer the project from Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) to the recent FOC.

His fellow HAL test pilots on the programme, Harsh Vardhan Thakur, Subroto Chaki and Pratyush Awasthi highlighted two solid outcome-driven achievements during his stint as Chief Fixed Wing Test Pilot. He first managed to convince the MoD and the IAF top brass to back the ‘doable’ TEJAS MK-1A rather than the over-the-top TEJAS MK-II. It is now almost a done deal. The second was his initiative to create a formal practitioner and subject matter expert-driven strategic process within HAL that has resulted in the emergence of synergy between pilots, designers, engineers and management, and allowed HAL to communicate effectively with users and think big. The possibility of developing a twin-engine TEJAS, both for the Indian Navy and IAF, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft and a range of unmanned aerial vehicles are now all within the realm of possibility.

India’s TEJAS project has still some distance to go before it wins the complete trust of the IAF’s fighter pilots, with several of them arguing that even a futuristic twin-engine TEJAS MK-II will not match up to the Rafale in every domain. However, it now appears to be on a stable footing with complete government and corporate backing, and an excellent and committed team. A current TEJAS test pilot argues, “TEJAS now represents India in a big way – not just HAL anymore. TEJAS-bashing should get behind us, sooner than later.”

If HAL can ramp up its production rates, address reliability and maintainability in the field, the TEJAS MK-1A may well have triggered a renaissance in contemporary Indian fighter development, and Muthu, who retires from HAL today (March 31), can well be certain that he has been a major catalyst in this transformation.

source: http://www.indiandefensenews.in / Indian Defense News / Home / by Indian Defense News / March 31st, 2020

(further source: Deccan Herald / March 31st, 2020 / by Arjun Subramaniam, Retd Air Vice Marshal of the the IAF, a military historian and strategic commentator)