Hyderabad: Indian Air Force has finally moved to purchase its second batch of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, a fighter jet for attack and other operations.
And Hyderabad has a decent contribution in the designing and making of the biggest IAF indigenous fighter aircraft.
Some electronic components of the Made-in-India jet were manufactured in Hyderabad and assembled in Bengaluru’s Hindustan Aeronautical Limited.
The chief designer of the LCA project is former Hyderabad University vice-chancellor Dr Kota Hari Narayana, who spent 10 years on designing the Tejas.
A senior IAF officer, who didn’t want to be identified, said, “Each LCA costs about Rs 400 crore as its electronic components are very expensive, more than even its body. The LCA is equipped with radar, data link, navigation system, weapon aiming sensors and interface and specific radar detector. Components of these electronic parts were manufactured by Defence Electronic Research Laboratories in Hyderabad.
Another city private vendor, VEN Technologies, also chipped in by making some of the aircraft’s body parts.
Talking about the aircraft, defence historian K.S. Nair said, “Earlier, fighter aircraft used to target the enemy with the help of human eye, but the latest ones are equipped with target lock, infrared radars and other wide range of sensors to spot the enemy. However this comes at a cost — most of the electronic components that are manufactured in Hyderabad are extremely precision-oriented and cost more than the aircraft body itself. For example, an airborne early warning and control aircraft with antenna has components costing more than the aircraft body.
The Tejas LCA which is finally tested and assembled at HAL in Bengaluru is designed to have air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities. This means it can attack an enemy aircraft in flight as well target a site on ground.
