Tejas flies with electronic warfare suite

An indigenously built advanced electronic warfare (EW) suite developed by the Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), a DRDO laboratory, flew for the first time onboard the Tejas-PV1 light combat aircraft (LCA) on Saturday at Bengaluru’s Yelhanka Air Force Station. The EW system allows ‘jamming’ of enemy signals, radars and confusing incoming missiles.

According to DRDO scientists, the EW system “goes beyond” having a mere radar warning capability as it can also allow pilots counter a threat apart from taking evasive manoeuvres. “Through a Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) system, a pilot only knows he is being tracked by an enemy radar and can only avoid straying further into enemy vision. But with an EW system, he can send out signals jamming or confusing an adversary’s ground and aircraft radars and fly in their territory unchallenged,” said an IAF pilot. A statement from DRDO said, “Over the coming few months, Aeronautical Development Agency and DARE will be scheduling sorties to evaluate the system in various signal scenarios. During the test flight on Sunday, the equipment was noted to be detecting radar signals operating in and around the flight path.”

The system’s development was being closely monitored by scientific advisor to the defence minister Dr Avinash Chander, senior scientist SS Sundaram and DARE director S.S. Manjula. The system is being developed alongside the LCA Tejas aircraft project, which is coming close to being accepted into the Indian Air Force. The naval version of the LCA the first prototype also flew recently for the first time from the Shore Based Test Facility at Goa last month.

Criticised over its long delay, the LCA project earned severe flak from defence experts and IAF due to the slow pace of development.

A certain section of defence officials is also unhappy with the plane still flying with an American GE-404 engine after the domestically developed Kaveri engine failed to meet the IAF requirements.

Cutting-edge innovation

Electronic Warfare (EW) and Electronic Countermeasures (EC) devices are buzzwords in modern day militaries. Interestingly, experts term it as a game of “one up-manship” where some countries have gone as far enough to develop Electronic Counter Counter Measures (ECCM) devices to tackle EC warfare with even ECCCM technologies being developed in response to it. “There is not limit for the number of Cs in the abbreviation. Today you have ECCCM and tomorrow someone has an ECCCCM,” quipped an officer. “Our chips have to be really strong and impenetrable to withstand jamming signals,” he added.