Brahmos- LCA Tejas Integration

The indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will be able to integrate BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in the future..

Tejas is India’s first light fighter aircraft designed and manufactured in the country. It’s a single-seat, single-engine supersonic multirole light fighter aircraft.
Its configuration is largely geared on mobility and agility.
It was designed to replace the Mig 21 fighter jets, which were getting old.
- The Aeronautical Development Agency, which is part of the Department of Defence Research and Development, designed it. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, a government-owned company, produced the plane .
To make handling easier, the plane has a computerised fly-by-wire flight control system. This allows the pilot to focus on other tasks (especially mission-critical tasks) without having to worry about the plane deviating from its flying route.
It can travel at a top speed of Mach 1.8
- Mach is used as a unit of measurement in stating the speed of a moving object in relation to the speed of sound.
The aircraft has a range of 3,000 kilometres.
In its class, it is the lightest, smallest, multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft.
Designed to carry a variety of precision-guided air-to-air and air-to-surface weaponry.
Capability for air-to-air refuelling.

Features of LCA Mk2

The aircraft features enhanced range and endurance including an onboard oxygen generation system, which is being integrated for the first time.
Heavy weapons of the class of Scalp, Crystal Maze and Spice-2000 will also be integrated on the Mk2.
The LCA-Mk2 will be a heavier and much more capable aircraft than the current LCA variants.
The Mk2 is 1,350 mm longer featuring canards and can carry a payload of 6,500 kg compared to 3,500 kg the LCA can carry.
The Mk2 will be powered by a more powerful GE-414 engine.

BrahMos is a joint venture between DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya and the missile derives its name from Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers.
The missile is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against surface and sea-based targets and has been long inducted by the Indian armed forces.
The range of the missile was originally capped at 290 km as per obligations of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
Following India’s entry into the club in June 2016, DRDO officials had stated that the range would be extended to 450 km and to 600 km at a later stage.
It is the first supersonic cruise missile to enter into the service.

The NG will weigh almost half as much as the current air-launched version, making it possible to be mounted on the LCA in future.
It is being integrated on the Su-30MKI, it would later be integrated on the LCA and also other fighters of the Air Force.
The current air-launched missile weighs 2.65 tonnes, which will come down to 1.33 tonnes with the NG.
With this, a SU-30MKI will be able to carry up to four BrahMos-NG missiles, while the LCA can carry two missiles

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