Tejas Jets for Delivery

• 08 Aug 2022

Why in News?

The Government of India has offered to sell 18 Light-Combat Aircraft (LCA) “Tejas” to Malaysia.

• Argentina, Australia, Egypt, the United States, Indonesia, and the Philippines were also interested in the single-engine jet.
• The Indian government gave a USD6 billion contract to state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in 2021 for 83 of the locally produced Tejas jets for delivery starting around 2023.

What is Tejas Aircraft?

• About:
  • The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme was started by the Government of India in 1984 when they established the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to manage the LCA programme.
  • It replaced the ageing Mig 21 fighter planes.
• Designed by:
  • Aeronautical Development Agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development.
• Manufactured by:
  • State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• Features:
  • The lightest, smallest and tailless multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft in its class.
  • Designed to carry a range of air-to-air, air-to-surface, precision-guided, weapons.
  • Air to air refuelling capability.
  • Maximum payload capacity of 4000 kg.
  • It can attend the maximum speed of Mach 1.8.
  • The range of the aircraft is 3,000km
• Variants of Tejas:
  • Tejas Trainer:
    • 2-seater operational conversion trainer for training air force pilots.
  • LCA Navy:
    • Twin- and single-seat carrier-capable for the Indian Navy.
  • LCA Tejas Navy MK2:
    • This is phase 2 of the LCA Navy variant.
  • LCA Tejas Mk-1A:
    • This is an improvement over the LCA Tejas Mk1 with a higher thrust engine.

Source: IE