There sat Dr Kota Hari-Narayaan, upon a chair placed on the enormous stage of Ravindra Bhavan.. But even more enormous were the accolades under his belt; being the Programme Director and Chief Designer of India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Programme which yielded our country with the Tejas Aircraft, the holder of the Padma Shri award, Distinguished Scientist Award presented to him by the DRDO, Distinguished Alumnus Awards from Two IITs…its suffice to say we were awestruck in his presence. The date was the 28th of December and the event; our School’s Annual Social Gathering with Dr Kota being the Chief Guest. I was expecting a man filled to the brim with pride, after all one would expect the huge list of accolades to impart such a quality in any man, but my expectations were fortunately wrong, for I was met with a sweet, patient and infinitely wise man who sacrificed his time just so he could impart to us his never-ending knowledge. This Interview was conducted by The Director of the Institute, Mr. Vyankatesh Prabhudesai with the topic of the discussion mainly based on the LCA Programme, its offshoots and the challenges faced by the team.
“There has never been a war won by any country in the last 100 years without Air Supremacy “Says Dr Kota. From the Dogfights over the skies of Somme during World War 1 to the Battle of Britain in the Second World War to even the Kargil War, These events have shown us how important it is to control the skies. And the Government has realized how important it is for India to develop an indigenous Combat Aircraft which led to the setting up of the LCA programme. But it isn’t easy. Aircraft design is a field where 99% accuracy is inadequate. “Air Craft design isn’t like designing a bus. You can stop a bus on the road and fix it “ says Dr Kota “but for aircraft, if something goes wrong…it’s a 20,000 feet trip to the ground !”
Dr Kota Further went to explain how the LCA Programme was a huge step for India to develop such an aircraft. Before this the only combat Aircraft made in India was the HAL HF-24 Merut, a first generation fighter bomber which was used extensively in the Indo-Pak War of 1971. But to jump from a first generation aircraft to a 4+ generation aircraft was huge leap, one which took more than 40 years to complete!
The Production of the Tejas took the integration of over 40 disciplines of Engineering, the support of various public and private players, educational institutes like the IITs and the IISC. This was one of the first times in India a whole Ecosystem Was set up for the development of the Aircraft. The development of the wings, landing gear, fuselage, landing gear, etc. being allocated to different bodies rather than just one place. Of course the process wasn’t easy and it took a whole lot of dedication and effort from the teams to bring about such a synergistic integration of the all these teams.
But Of course its not only enough to design an Aircraft. You may design the greatest aircraft in the world but without Certification your Aircraft will be doomed to remain on the ground for all of eternity. Dr Kota addressed this as one of the hardest steps in aircraft design is getting it Certified. Mainly because The Certifying body will have to take liability in case of any mishaps or accidents, something which they wouldn’t like to get their hands dirty in. Also what adds to the problem is that not all of the staff has a firm aeronautics background. However for them the certification process went smoothly without much trouble.
Funding for the project was also rather smooth. Dr Kota attributes this to the fact that the Government realized the urgent need for India to develop an Indigenous Combat Aircraft. More so Dr Kota was presently surprised with the fact that many Private Organizations funded and backed the project along with the support of many research organizations like the IISC which handled over 200 projects related to the development of the LCA. Dr Kota also told us how many of his friends who were professors in various Prestigious Universities in India Left their jobs so they could work Alongside Dr Kota in the development of the Aircraft.
Dr Kota also went on to tell that a lot of people were skeptical about the project. Mainly because they couldn’t believe India didn’t have the facilities needed to head such a project. Of course by the end of the project they were all proven wrong for India successfully developed the worlds lightest Light combat aircraft. The LCA programme held the record for the safest Combat Aircraft programme in the world without having a single accident over the almost forty years it ran. The Tejas aircraft is also extremely difficult to detect and possesses stealth properties which makes it hard to detect by many of its competitors. The team was also awarded the best Project software in a world wide competition even besting software developed by the US teams. The Software was so good that it was even adopted by Airbus for the further development of the A330. This goes on to show that if one is motivated and has the willpower, one can achieve almost anything in this world.
Near the End of the session Dr Kota also mentioned about the HAL AMCA projects, India’s Ongoing attempt to develop a Fifth generation Stealth combat aircraft which will have the ability to penetrate and attack deep into enemy lines. Dr Kota also talked about Dr. Abdul Kalam and mentioned how he was deeply committed man on discipline, would always seek to help his fellow coworkers ad listen to their suggestions and ideas regardless of the time. Dr Kota further said that one of the cornerstones to success is Commitment and we must all seek to be committed in Life.
All in all it was a beautiful session and being aviation enthusiasts was excited to receive an insiders perspective on the LCA project and on the challenges and skills involved in this vast field of Aircraft design. It was an honor to hear Dr Kota Hari-Narayaan speak and have him be the Chief guest of our Annual Social Gathering.
– Prepared by Navin Shirodkar, Student of STD XII, MAHSS