THE EAGLE'S EYE TEJAS MK-II RADAR PIERCES VEIL OF THE SKY

The Tejas Mk-II, featuring DRDO's GaN-based Uttam AESA radar, marks a major leap in India's defence, enhancing range, precision, and multi-target tracking capabilities, highlights GIRISH LINGANNA

India's homegrown light combat aircraft, the Tejas Mk-II, is set to take a major step forward by featuring a gallium nitride (GaN)based fire control radar, the Uttam Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA). This development is a significant achievement for India's aerospace sector and demonstrates the country's increasing independence in defence technology.

The Uttam AESA radar, developed by the DRDO, will be the first GaN-based fire control radar to be used on an Indian fighter jet. Compared to older gallium arsenide (GaAs) radars, GaN technology offers better performance, including longer range, greater accuracy and stronger resistance to electronic interference. This gives the Tejas Mk-II a major edge in aerial combat, allowing it to detect, and track, multiple targets at once, even in tough conditions.

The Uttam AESA radar is typically installed in the nose cone of the aircraft, also commonly called the radome-a combination of 'radar' and 'dome'―which is a protective, aerodynamic cover that shields the radar system from weather and environmental damage while allowing radar signals to pass through without interference.

This location, that is, the radome, provides the radar with an optimal forwardfacing position, allowing it to scan, and track, targets over a wide area in front of the aircraft. The radome is being developed by National Aeronautical Laboratory (NAL)

TEJAS MK-II'S Cutting-edge Radar Capabilities

The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), in its latest annual report, announced a major achievement in the development of India's light combat aircraft (LCA), the Tejas Mk-II. According to the report, NAL has successfully completed the structural design and analysis of the radome's composite structure and its related components for the Mk-II's AESA radar. This accomplishment has passed the critical design review (CDR), marking an important step forward in the project.