LCA Tejas at centre stage of 'India Pavilion' at Aero India 2023; fascinating features to know

A full-scale Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas in final operational clearance (FOC) configuration will be at the centre stage of 'India Pavilion' at Aero India 2023.

The fighter aircraft on Monday performed several maneuvers such as the show-off, take-off, hesitation roll and vertical pinchback.

The maneuvers were appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated the global airshow on Monday.

According to sources, Argentina and Malaysia have evinced interest in importing the LCA Tejas MK 1A, a product of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

LCA Tejas: What should you know

LCA Tejas is a single engine, light weight, highly agile, multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft. It has quadruplex digital fly-by-wire Flight Control System (FCS) with associated advanced flight control laws.

The aircraft with delta wing is designed for 'air combat' and 'offensive air support' with 'reconnaissance' and 'anti-ship' as its secondary roles.

Extensive use of advanced composites in the airframe gives a high strength to its weight ratio, long fatigue life and low radar signatures.

Tejas is equipped with state-of-the-art features like glass cockpit, zero-zero ejection seat, inflight refueling probe, jam-proof AESA radar, UEWS with SPJ, CMDS, HMDS DashV, BVR missile capability and many more which make the aircraft more lethal.

The LCA has come a long way in terms of development and is presently available in Air Force fighter and twin-seater and LCA Navy fighter and twin-seater variants.

Other variants like LCA LIFT (Lead in fighter trainer) and MK-2 are being developed for LCA Tejas.

Some of the uniqueness of the aircraft is as follows:

* One of the smallest and lightest aircraft in its class; excellent flight safety record; available in all four variants to meet customers' needs.

* Composite constitute 90 per cent by area and 45 per cent by weight; supersonic at all altitude with minimalistic RCS; quad-redundant fly by wire aircraft.

* Payload carrying capacity up to 30 per cent of AUW (all up weight); open architecture enables customised weapon integration; maintenance-friendly with low operating cost.

The 14th edition of Aero India will have a separate 'India Pavilion', which is based on the 'fixed wing platform' theme to showcase India's growth in the area, including the future prospects for the same.

The India Pavilion will also showcase the growth of India in developing an eco-system for fixed wing platform which includes the demonstration of various structural modules, simulators, systems (LRUs) etc. of LCA Tejas aircraft being produced by private partners.

There will also be a section for defence space, new technologies and a UAV section which will give an insight about the growth of India in each sector.

LCA Tejas is pegged as the biggest achievement of HAL and it is expected to put Indian defence capabilities on a global map.

(With inputs from IANS)