UPSC Articles
Cobra Warrior
Part of: Prelims and GS-II International Relations and GS-III Defence and security
Context: For the first time, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will deploy the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas for multilateral air exercise ‘Cobra Warrior’ at Waddington, U.K.
- Five Tejas aircraft will fly to the U.K.
Key takeaways
- The multilateral air exercise ‘Cobra Warrior’ will also see the participation of Air Forces of Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the U.S.
- The exercise is aimed at providing operational exposure and sharing best practices amongst the participating Air Forces, thereby enhancing combat capability and forging bonds of friendship.
- The exercise is scheduled from March 6 to 27.
Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas
- LCA Tejas is a single-engine multirole light combat aircraft.
- It replaced the aging Mig 21 fighter planes.
- It is the second supersonic fighter jet that was developed by HAL (the first one being HAL HF-24 Marut).
- Bodies involved: Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the autonomous society of DRDO is the design agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as the manufacturer
- It is the lightest and smallest multirole supersonic fighter aircraft in its class.
- It can attend the maximum speed of Mach 1.8.
- It is designed to carry a range of air-to-air, air-to-surface, precision-guided and standoff weaponry.
- It is a single pilot aircraft that has a maximum takeoff weight of 13,300 kg.
- It has a general range of 850 km and a combat range of 500 km.
News Source: TH
