COMING OF AGE

Though it has a chequered past and critics talk of an uncertain future, the Tejas programme is moving forward slowly and steadily, write ARITRA BANERJEE and SHREYA MUNDHRA

- ARITRA BANERJEE and SHREYA MUNDHRA

India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is in news. Reportedly, the government is planning to export Tejas with a package deal that I would include maintenance and spares for the nation's Russian-origin Su30 fighter jets.

The Tejas is an indigenously developed, single-engine, generation, high-agility, supersonic light combat aircraft. Tejas, meaning "radiance", is the first modern, indigenous Indian fighter aircraft. The state-owned defence and aerospace Hindustan Aeronautics fourth-multirole, company, Limited (HAL), made the jet for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy (IN). Initially designed as a technology demonstrator, the LCA has sparked the development of multiple variants ranging from the LCA Tejas MK1, MK1A, MK2 (Medium Weight Fighter- MWF), and the Tejas naval variant.

Reportedly, HAL is also developing a variant of Tejas for use as a trainer aircraft for the pilots graduated from advance training. The project is called LIFT- an acronym for Lead-in-Fighter Trainer.

From tech demonstrator to modern fighter

Although the idea of the LCA Tejas MK1 was conceived in the mid-1980s, the aircraft entered the production line several years later. The MK1, introduced in the IAF in 2015, is a multi-role fighter jet. India has produced 37 of these aircraft as of 2020.

HAL Tejas is equipped with an indigenous electronic warfare (EW) suite comprising an integrated radar warning receiver, chaff, and flare dispenser system, self-protection jammer, and beyond visual range (BVR) missile capabilities. It also has a 45 percent advanced composite material airframe, making it especially lightweight. Additionally, the LCA's compact build presents the benefit of visual stealth. The jet also has a Y-duct inlet which protects the engine compressor face from probing radar waves.