General Studies IIIInternal Security

LCA Tejas

Why in news?

The Cabinet met under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister in New Delhi on 13 January and has approved procurement of 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircrafts and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 Trainer aircrafts at the cost of Rs. 45,696 Crore along with Design and Development of Infrastructure sanctions worth Rs.1,202 Crore. 

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.
  • LCA Tejas is a single-engine and tailless multi-role supersonic combat aircraft.
  • It replaced the aging Mig 21 fighter planes.
  • It is the second supersonic fighter jet that was developed by HAL (the first one being HAL HF-24 Marut).
  • Bodies involved: Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the autonomous society of DRDO is the design agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as the manufacturer
  • It is the lightest and smallest multirole supersonic fighter aircraft in its class.
  • It can attend the maximum speed of Mach 1.8. 
  • It is designed to carry a range of air-to-air, air-to-surface, precision-guided and standoff weaponry.
  • Air to air refuelling capability.
  • Maximum payload capacity of 4000 kg.
  • It is a single pilot aircraft that has a maximum takeoff weight of 13,300 kg. 
  • 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

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