Recently, a meeting was held between DRDO Chief, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force, officials of DRDO Laboratory, Defense PSU, CEMILAC, NFTC regarding LCA MK-2 i.e. Light Combat Aircraft Mark 2. This was a high level review meeting. In which the development of LCA was discussed.
You will be surprised to know that in this meeting it has been revealed that the first prototype of LCA MK-2 will be made in the next two months. Its roll out will start from the year 2025 i.e. from next year. There is every possibility that the first flight of this fighter jet will be completed in 2026. This will be a medium weight fighter jet (MWF).
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This fighter jet will be upgraded from the current LCA i.e. Tejas. It will have better manoeuvrability, excellent avionic suites, sensors and a more powerful engine. This will be a new generation fighter jet. After joining the Air Force, the Air Force will remove its SEPECAT Jaguar, Mirage 2000, Mikoyan MiG-29 aircrafts.
Speed and range of LCA MK-2 will be better
This will be an indigenous multirole supersonic fighter jet. One or two crew will be able to sit in it. The length will be 47.11 feet. The wingspan will be 27.11 feet and the height will be 15.11 feet. Maximum takeoff weight will be 17,500 kg. It will be able to fly with weapons weighing 6500 kg.
The biggest strength of the LCA Mark-2 fighter jet will be its speed. It will fly at a maximum speed of 2385 km/hour. That means it will compete with the speed of the world’s best fighter jets. Its total range will be 2500 km. Combat range will be 1500 km. It will be able to reach a maximum height of 56,758 feet.
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Can employ 13 types of weapons or a combination of them
There will be 13 hard points in it, that is, 13 different types of weapons or their mixture can be installed. There are plans to install air-to-air missile MICA, ASRAAM, Meteor, Astra, NG-CCM, air-to-surface BrahMos-NG ALCM, LRLACM, Storm Shadow, Crystal Maze.
Anti-radiation missile Rudram 1/2/3 will be installed. Precision guided munitions i.e. bombs will also be installed in it. These precision guided munitions include Spice, HSLD-100/250/450/500, DRDO Glide Bombs, DRDO SAAW. Sudarshan bomb will be installed in laser guided bombs.
Will be able to deploy many types of guided bombs, suicide drones
Apart from this, cluster munition, loitering munition Cats Alpha and unguided bombs can be installed. The avionics installed in the LCA Mark 2 fighter jet allow it to detect the enemy. Will help in avoiding attacks. It will be equipped with LRDE Uttam AESA Radar, DARE Unified Electronic Warfare Suite (UEWS), DARE Dual Color Missile Approach Warning System (DCMAWS) and DARE Targeting pod.