The Indian Air force is gearing up to further enhance the devastating powers of India’s indigenous developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) — Tejas. Reportedly, India has placed orders for HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) missiles from France to be fitted into LCA Tejas boosting the firepower of the fighter jet.
Government officials were quoted as saying by ANI, “The HAMMER missiles are in the process of being integrated with the LCA Tejas and it will significantly enhance its capability to take out hardened targets from stand-off distances,”
"The HAMMER missiles are in the process of being integrated with the IAF LCA #Tejas and it will significantly enhance its capability to take out hardened targets from stand-off distances": #MoD Official to ANIpic.twitter.com/xdRdmvhQ4m
— Defence Decode® (@DefenceDecode) November 16, 2021
HAMMER will increase the superiority of Tejas over China-Pakistan’s JF-17
The fitting of HAMMER missiles will enable Tejas jets to take out enemy bunkers from 70km away. The IAF had first acquired HAMMER missiles for the French Rafale jets. The addition of HAMMER to the already impressive weaponry fitted onto LCA Tejas will further enhance its superiority over the JF-17 fighter jet, Pakistan, and China’s joint venture.
Amid the border standoff with China, the government last year in August had deployed Tejas on the western front along the Pakistan border to ward off any potential attack from the notorious neighbours. The first LCA Tejas squadron, 45 Squadron (Flying Daggers) based out of Sulur under the Southern Air Command, was deployed in an operational role there.
The government sources at the time had remarked, “The LCA Tejas was deployed by the Indian Air Force on the western front close to the Pakistan border to take care of any possible action by the adversary there,”
Israeli Python air-to-air missile
HAMMER is not the only sophisticated piece of military equipment to be fitted into Tejas. As reported by TFI earlier this year, the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) tested the Israeli Python-5 air-to-air missile by deploying it on Tejas.
The LCA now has the unmissable capability to destroy high-speed manoeuvering aerial targets, which would help it in tracking and shooting deadly drones.
A DRDO official was quoted as saying, “The test-firing of the two missiles at Goa completed a series of trials to validate their performance under extremely challenging scenarios. The Derby missile achieved a direct hit on a high-speed manoeuvering aerial target. The Python missiles also achieved 100% hits, thereby validating their complete capability,”
He further added, “After successful separation trials at Goa, the live launch of the Python on a Banshee target was carried out. In all the live firings, the missile hit the aerial targets.”
The increased power of Tejas — a threat to India’s notorious neighbours
The importance of drones in modern warfare cannot be understated, now more so than ever. Reported extensively by TFI, the 2020 Azerbaijan-Armenia war will go down in history as the first war where drones single-handedly turned the tide in the favour of the former.
Militaries all around the world closely watched the conflict – and it provided a glimpse of the battlefields of the future. Drone strikes destroyed artillery and air defence systems along with tanks belonging to Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh forces.
Moreover, Pakistan in the last few months has used drones to infiltrate the Indian airspace. In June, Pakistan dropped two bombs at an Indian Air Force (IAF) station at Jammu airport using drones, injuring two IAF personnel.
However, with Rafale being fitted with HAMMER and Python-5, both Pakistan and China will be wary of mounting any sort of offence, for there is a beast roaming the Indian airspace and guarding it.