The Tejas offers flight stability even under extreme unstable conditions, according to S Christopher, Chairman, DRDO

by M Somasekhar

Tejas, India’s home-grown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), has emerged among the best in class aircraft, providing flight stability even under extreme unstable conditions says S Christopher, Chairman, Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). This has been achieved thorough indigenous technology and developments.

In addition, Tejas has rules-based Artificial Intelligence incorporated into its Flight Control System (FCS), he said at the third International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), International Conference on Advances in Control & Optimisation of Dynamical Systems (ACODS 2018) here. The FCS provides the pilot 'carefree handling'. However, flight limits cannot be exceeded, which at lower speeds on aircraft such as the MiG-23/27 or Jaguar, results in the loss of the aircraft. The Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bengaluru, and HAL have been involved in the development of Tejas.

However, it has posed challenges for pilots in controlling its longitudinally unstable airframe, which escalates rapidly any disturbance of even a small magnitude. A major challenge that has resulted in delays and long gestation for the Tejas development program.

Christopher, who is also Secretary, Department of Defence R&D, said to add more features and capabilities, continuous R&D has been taken up in the are of AI. Control systems have wide applications varying from aircraft and submarines to missiles. To meet the growing requirements of aerospace and defence projects, there is a need to develop innovative guidance schemes and control algorithms, he added.

Futuristic weapon systems will be smart, intelligent, complex and technologically advanced, he added. More than 500 scientists, academicians, industry partners and students are taking part in the conference being organised by DRDO. In his address, G Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and DG (Missiles & Strategic Systems), said miniaturised avionics and smart sensors will be the backbone for futuristic aerospace and defence systems. Hence, there is an urgent need to create infrastructure and train a resource pool to develop algorithms for control and guidance to take aerospace vehicles such as fighter aircraft, missiles and launch vehicles into the next generation.

N.V. Kadam and S.K. Ray, former senior scientists of the APJ Kalam Missile Complex, were felicitated for their lifetime contributions in the field of control and guidance. Frank Allgower, President, IFAC Austria (Stuttgart University, Germany), addressed the inaugural function. Many globally renowned Control and Guidance experts including P.K. Menon, Chairman & CEO, Optimal Synthesis Inc., Reza Moheimani, University of Texas, Sarah Spurgeon, University College of London, and Min-Jea Tahk, Korea Advanced Institute of S&T will be delivering the plenary and invited talks during the international conference.