History, Old wives tales, TEDBF and the NLCA . Prof. Prodyut Das September 27, 2025 There has been talk of having a common fighter for the IN and the IAF. The advantages of a common platform are obvious but if you dip into those aspects of aircraft design neglected (unfortunately!) in India- history, common sense, superstition, back of the envelope calculations and old wives tales, perhaps the enthusiasm for the obvious solution may dampen. What I put down here is not a challenge to the views held by the proponents of a common airframe for the IAF and IN but as a sort of grist to the discussion’s mill that the precedents for the idea ...
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The Plan B AMCA- The Horten wing-based stealth Intruder Prof. Prodyut Das 19 July 2025 This is a discussion on using the Horten Wing technology to develop a 5th generation “Malacca Straits” intruder using existing aggregates and resources. The Horten History The Horten wing is best described by its German appellation Nurflugel i.e. “only wing” aircraft. The Horten “Nurflugel” is an aircraft with only the wing and a vestigial fuselage and is different from the Lippisch “Nurflugel” which has a fuselage, a fin but no stabilizer. Two brothers, Reimar and Walther Horten, over the period 1930-37 designed and built at home a series of 7 (Horten I to VII) tailless gliders. The first one was so disappointing the brothers took it home and burnt it. Because there was no fuselage and tailplane the weight and drag were considerably reduced giving the powered versions of the Hortens tremend...