An advance Electronic Warfare suite (EW suite) developed by Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), a DRDO laboratory, flew for the first time onboard the “Tejas-PV1 Light Combat Aircraft” today at Bengaluru. In addition to the Radar Warner, the EW suite is also equipped with jammer. It gives to the pilot an additional capability of nullifying the effect of detected Radar threat by appropriate mode of jamming. Existing EW systems fitted on various combat aircraft are basic EW equipment known as Radar Warner Receiver to provide warning to the aircraft pilot in case of detection of a Radar threat. After obtaining due flight clearances and certification, the first flight sortie of LCA PV1 with the EW equipment operational, took place today. The equipment was noted to be detecting Radar signals operating in and around the flight path.
Dr. Avinash Chander, Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri, Secretary Deptt. of Defence R&D & DG DRDO congratulated the team on the achievement and said, “this warfare suite adds an important capability to our LCA”. Shri SS Sundaram, Distinguished Scientist and DG (ECS) called it a “new generation electronic warfare equipment integrated on TEJAS aircraft”. Ms. J Manjula, OS and Director DARE said “LCA is the first fighter aircraft of India fitted with a Radar Warner and Jammer equipment with capability for both Radar warning and jamming using a Unified EW Technology. Over the coming few months, ADA and DARE will be scheduling further sorties to evaluate the system in various signal scenarios”.