LCA Tejas to be at the centre stage of ‘India Pavilion’ at Aero India 2023

PTI, Feb 2, 2023, 2:25 PM IST

A full scale LCA-Tejas aircraft in Final Operational Clearance (FOC) configuration will be at the centre stage of ”India Pavilion” at Aero India 2023, to be held from February 13 to 17 at Yelahanka Air Force Station here.

The 14th Edition of the biennial aero show and aviation exhibition, organised by the Ministry of Defence, will have a separate ”India Pavilion” based on ‘Fixed Wing Platform’ theme to showcase India’s strides in the fixed wing area and future prospects in the field, a Defence release said on Thursday.

The India Pavilion will further showcase the growth of India in developing an eco-system for fixed wing platform which includes the demonstration of various structural modules, simulators and systems, among others, of LCA-Tejas aircraft being produced by private partners. There will also be a section for ”Defence space, New Technologies” and a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) section which will give an insight about the growth of India in each sector.

LCA Tejas is a single engine, light weight, highly agile, multi-role supersonic fighter. 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 weight ratio, long fatigue life and low radar signatures,” the release said.

Tejas is equipped with state-of-the-art features like glass cockpit, zero-zero ejection seat, inflight refueling probe and jam-proof AESA Radar, among others, which make the aircraft ”more lethal,” it said. LCA has come a long way in terms of development and presently available in Air Force fighter & twin seater and LCA Navy fighter and twin seater. Other variants like LCA LIFT (Lead in fighter trainer) and MK-2 are being developed for LCA Tejas.

Aero India provides a platform to various national and international aerospace and defence companies to showcase their advanced products and capabilities to explore business opportunities, it was noted.