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DRDO: Recently, a meeting was held between senior officials of DRDO and the Air Force regarding the modern and new variant of India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) MK-2. The first flight of this fighter jet will take place in 2026.
Recently, a meeting was held between DRDO Chairman, Deputy Chief of Staff of Indian Air Force, DRDO Laboratory, Defense PSU, CEMILAC, NFTC regarding LCA MK-2 i.e. Light Combat Aircraft Mark 2. It was a high-level review meeting in which the development of LCA was discussed.
In this meeting, it was revealed that the LCA will become the first prototype of MK-2 in the next two months. Its roll out will start from the year 2025 i.e. next year. It is very likely that the first flight of this fighter jet will be completed in 2026. It will be a Medium Weight Fighter Jet (MWF).
This fighter jet will be an upgrade from the existing LCA i.e. Tejas. It will have better maneuverability, better avionic suits, sensors and more powerful engines. This will be a new generation fighter jet. After its induction into the Air Force, the Air Force will phase out its SEPECAT Jaguar, Mirage 2000, Mikoyan MiG-29 aircraft.
The speed and range of LCA Mk-2 will be better
It will be an indigenous multirole supersonic fighter jet. It can accommodate one or two crew members. The length will be 47.11 feet. The wingspan will be 27.11 feet and the height will be 15.11 feet. The maximum takeoff weight will be 17,500 kg. It can fly carrying 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/h. That is, the world's best fighter jets will compete with it in speed. Its total range will be 2500 km. The combat range will be 1500 km. It can reach a maximum height of 56,758 feet.
Can install 13 types of weapons or their combination
It will have 13 hard points which means 13 different types of weapons or a combination of them can be mounted. Air to air missiles MICA, ASRAAM, Meteor, Astra, NG-CCM, air to surface missiles Brahmos-NG ALCM, LRLACM, Storm Shadow, Crystal Maze are planned.
Anti-radiation missile Rudram 1/2/3 will be deployed. In which precision guided ammunition i.e. bombs will also be installed. These precision guided weapons include Spice, HSLD-100/250/450/500, DRDO glide bomb, DRDO SAAW. Sudarshan bomb will be installed in laser guided bombs.
Suicide drones will be able to deploy several types of guided bombs
Apart from this, cluster munitions, stray munitions CATS Alpha and unguided bombs can be deployed. The avionics installed in the LCA Mark 2 fighter jet will help in obtaining enemy intelligence, protecting against attack. It will have LRDE Uttam AESA radar, DARE Unified Electronic Warfare Suite (UEWS), DARE Dual Color Missile Approach Warning System (DCMAWS) and DARE Targeting Pod.
