New Delhi,mar 15:
Tejas, India’s indigenous supersonic Light Combat Aircraft, will take part in the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) 2019 in Malaysia for the first time. The world’s lightest supersonic fighter which has already joined the Indian Air Force (IAF) and received the Final Operational Clearance on February 20, 2019, during Aero India 2019 at Bengaluru’s Yelahanka Air Force Station, will also take part in aerial displays during the five-day LIMA 2019.
Tejas fighters will perform with Indonesia’s Jupiter Aerobatic Team flying the KT-1B Woong Bee aircraft and the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The IAF will take two Tejas fighters for the show.
The IAF had inducted the Tejas into its Number 45 Squadron called Flying Daggers on July 1, 2016. Before the Tejas, the Flying Daggers used to fly the MiG-21 Bison fighters, one of which shot down a much-advanced F-16 of the Pakistani Air Force on February 27, 2019, when the enemy aircraft tried to enter the Indian airspace over Jammu and Kashmir. The first advance Fly-by-wire (FBW) fighter designed, developed and manufactured by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Tejas will replace the MiG-21s in the IAF arsenal. Sporting a glass cockpit with Satellite aided Inertial Navigation System, the Tejas is a 4th Plus generation fighter and can fire Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missiles, bombs and precision-guided munitions.
Tejas can be refuelled mid-air increasing its combat radius. The IAF is already looking forward to the newer version of the aircraft Tejas MK 2, the Medium Weight Fighter (MWF) under development, Tejas Mk1 with the IAF arsenal currently is a Light Combat Aircraft.
Along with the Tejas, Indian Navy’s Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette INS Kadmatt will also take part in LIMA 2019. INS Kadmatt is the second ship of Project 28 (P28) class and was commissioned into the Indian Navy on January 7, 2016.
The warship is equipped to fight in Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions.
