Test pilots flying India’s much-debated home-grown fighter Tejas (Light Combat Aircraft-LCA) will soon experience a cool and compact cockpit.
Test pilots flying India’s much-debated home-grown fighter Tejas (Light Combat Aircraft-LCA) will soon experience a cool and compact cockpit.
The fifth limited series production (LSP-5) platform of Tejas, set to fly in the first week of August, will have an onboard “re-arranged and modified cockpit” to increase the comfort levels of the pilot.
Program director (combat aircraft) and director of Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) PS Subramanyam told DNA that the layout changes will make the glass cockpit more pilot-friendly and even enhance its night flying capabilities.
“The new cockpit will be a pilot’s delight,” said Subramanyam.
“The pilots are happy as they are also doubling up as designers. Our efforts are to bring down the workload of pilots during the mission. All the 12 pilots who were part of the Tejas programme from the beginning have contributed their bit to the cockpit modifications. The pilot is the man in action and our role is to ensure that we give him everything he needs while flying,” he explained.
Air Marshal PK Barbora, vice-chief of Indian Air Force (IAF), told DNA that a user-friendly and smart cockpit would make the hand-eye coordination perfect.
“Your hands must be able to move around relatively easily, the way you normally do. Even if there’s an emergency, the right signal must come to you instantly enabling you to take swift action. Hence, a cockpit plays a decisive role,” Barbora said.
Sources in the Indian Air Force (IAF) said that the information flow to the pilot has increased 10-fold as compared to before.
“Earlier the pilot had to manually involve in many actions, but today he is fed information
intelligently in a format which can input it. This will enable him to choose the correct weapon and use them very optimally. Today the data flow to the pilot and back is monitored by the ground base,
sensors, other aircraft and Air Borne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS). Hence, the cockpit has to be suited to various networking options,” an IAF official with Air HQ said.
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