Cobra Warrior

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