New Delhi: Indian aircraft Tejas is far better and advanced than the Chinese and Pakistan joint venture JF-17 fighter,” Indian Air Force chief RKS Bhadauria said on Thursday, when asked to compare the Indian fighter with the JF-17.
To a query on whether the Tejas would be able to carry out Balakot-type airstrikes, the Air Chief said: “In terms of strike capability, it will have the capability of a standoff weapon which will be even beyond the capability we used that time.”
Tejas is a fourth generation fighter aircraft, developed by Aeronautical Development Agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The light combat aircraft MK-1A is designed and developed indigenously and is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment associated with fourth generation fighter aircraft.
Why is the indigenous ‘Tejas’ special?
The biggest feature of Tejas is that by flying at a low altitude, it can aim accurately at the enemy and is adept at dodging the enemy’s radar. Tejas is capable of firing missiles from air to air and from air to ground. It can also carry antiship missiles, bombs and rockets. ‘Tejas’ can also be equipped with derby and weapon missiles. Not only this, enemies can be attacked with laser guided bombs via ‘Tejas’ fighter aircraft. This fighter aircraft has also been equipped with modern radar and missile jammers.
The speed and strength of the fighter aircraft ‘Tejas’
Tejas, a fighter aircraft flying at twice the speed of sound, ‘Tejas’ is capable of flying at a speed of 2222 kmph. Not only this, ‘Tejas’ has the ability to fly for a distance of 3850 km at a time. If ‘Tejas’ is equipped with all types of weapons, its total weight will be around 13,500 kg. The fully indigenous fighter aircraft ‘Tejas’ is 13.2 meters long and 4.4 meters high.