LCA Tejas to take centre stage at India Pavilion during Aero India 2023

BENGALURU: A full-scale LCA Tejas aircraft in Final Operational Clearance (FOC) configuration will be at the centre stage of the ‘India Pavilion’ during Aero India 2023.

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

The India Pavilion will further showcase the growth of India in developing an ecosystem 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.

The 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 it a high strength to weight ratio, long fatigue life and low radar signatures.

The 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 much more, which make the aircraft more lethal. The LCA has come a long way in terms of development and presently available in Air Force fighter and twin seater and LCA Navy fighter and twin seater. Other variants like LCA LIFT (Lead in fighter trainer) and MK-2 is being developed for LCA Tejas.

Some of the unique features of the aircraft are:

One of the smallest and lightest aircraft in its class

Excellent flight safety record

Available in all four variants to meet all customer needs

Composite constitute 90 pc by area and 45 pc by weight

Supersonic at all altitude with minimalistic RCS

Quad-redundant fly by wire aircraft

Payload carrying capacity up to 30 pc of AUW (all up weight)

Open architecture enabling customised weapon integration

Maintenance-friendly with low operating cost

Aero India is a biennial aero show and aviation exhibition being held at Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru from February 13 to 17, 2023. The show is organised by the Ministry of Defence and is one of the biggest in Asia.
Aero India provides a platform to various national and international aerospace and defence companies to showcase their advanced products and capabilities to explore the business opportunities.