What: BVR missile launched from Tejas
When: 27 April 2018
Where: Off the Goa coast
- India’s indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas has successfully fired an air-to-air beyond visual range (BVR) missile.
- The missile was launched from LCA Tejas piloted by Wg Cdr Siddharth Singh on 27 April 2018 from the firing range off the Goa coast after exhaustive study of the missile separation characteristics and plume envelope.
- LCA Tejas has been designed & developed by DRDO’s autonomous society – Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA).
- With this, Tejas has demonstrated its overall capability as an effective combat jet, and inched closer to receive final operational clearance.
- The successful launch of the BVR missile will expedite issuance of the Final Operational Clearance to the aircraft developed by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO).
- Earlier, Tejas was given clearance for deployment of armaments and other missiles.
About Tejas
- Tejas is the first advance Fly-by-wire (FBW) fighter aircraft designed, developed and manufactured in India.
- Conceived as a MiG-21 replacement, the aircraft has been designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
- It is to the credit of its designers, manufacturer, technicians and test crew, that LCA has flown more than 3000 sorties / 2000 Hrs till date without any accident.
- Tejas is a 4th Plus generation aircraft with a glass cockpit and is equipped with state of the art Satellite aided Inertial Navigation System. It has a digital computer based attack system and an autopilot. It can fire Air to Air Missiles, Bombs as well as Precision Guided Munitions.
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) had ordered 40 Tejas Mark-1 version and a request for proposal was issued to HAL by the IAF in December for procurement of another batch of 83 Tejas at a cost of around 50,000 crore rupees.
- The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) “Tejas” was inducted into No. 45 Squadron of Indian Air Force (IAF) on 01 Jul 2016. No. 45 Squadron, also called the “Flying Daggers”
